SC reserves verdict on plea seeking damages for deaths ‘linked’ to COVID vaccines, Pg14

Key Highlights:

• The Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on a petition seeking compensation for deaths allegedly caused by COVID-19 vaccination through Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI).
• Petitioners Rachna Gangu and Venugopalan Govindan claim their daughters died due to adverse effects of COVID vaccination.
• Over 1,100 AEFI-linked deaths have been reported in India.
• The court also considered a petition by the Centre against a Kerala High Court order to create a policy for identifying and compensating AEFI deaths.

Detailed Insights:

• The petitioners argued that the COVID-19 vaccine was effectively forced upon the public, despite being officially termed "voluntary," and that information about its after-effects was suppressed.
• An intervenor supported the plea, advocating for an independent investigation into AEFI cases.
• The Supreme Court questioned the data source used to link deaths to AEFI, and criticized the petitioners for trusting foreign data over Indian government data.
• The Central government argued that it cannot be held liable for compensating deaths resulting from COVID-19 vaccination.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI): Any untoward medical occurrence which follows immunization and which does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the usage of the vaccine.
• Compensation: Payment awarded to individuals or their families for losses or damages suffered, in this case, allegedly due to COVID-19 vaccination.