A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking the formation of a medical panel of experts under the supervision of a retired judge of the apex court to examine the side effects and risks of the Covishield vaccine.

Covishield developer and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca reportedly admitted that the AZD1222 vaccine could cause low platelet counts and formation of blood clots in “very rare” cases.

The application moved by an advocate stated that after COVID-19 there has been an increase in the cases of death due to heart attack, even in youngsters, and sudden collapse of persons and seeks direction from the Union government to establish a Vaccine Damage Payment System for the citizens who got severely disabled or died as a result of a vaccination.

It said that after the document filed in UK court by the developer of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID vaccine, sold as Covishield in India, the government is required to take immediate steps for the sake of the safety and health of Indian citizens and the issue has to be looked upon on priority so that in future no risk may occur regarding the health and life of people.

AstraZeneca, in court proceedings in the UK High Court, admitted to the possibility of TTS (Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome) as a result of its vaccination in “very rare cases” but denied that “TTS is caused by the vaccine at a generic level”.

AstraZeneca has accepted a link between the vaccine and Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), a medical condition characterised by abnormally low levels of platelets and the formation of blood clots.

Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID vaccine formula was licensed to Pune-based vaccine maker Serum Institute of India (SII) during the Coronavirus pandemic for the manufacture of Covishield. More than 175 crore doses of Covishield have been administered in India, the plea said.