DELHI: Serum Institute of India was recently accused by a Covid-19 vaccine candidate that the AstraZeneca-Oxford’s vaccine had side effects on him. On Sunday (29 Nov) SII denied all the charges and said that the candidate was spreading false rumors.

The volunteer’s lawyer had sent in a legal notice to all the involved parties. This includes Director General, ICMR, Drugs Controller General of India, Central Drugs Standard Control Organization, CEO AstraZeneca UK and CEO of Serum Institute of India. The notice says that the volunteer must be compensated for all that he has gone through.

For the third trial phase of AstraZeneca COVID vaccine by Serum Institute of India (SII), a 40-year-old business consultant from Chennai had volunteered. The man later claimed that the test had resulted in severe side effects like neurological breakdown and impairment of cognitive functions. He has demanded a compensation claim of Rs 5 crore.

The trail took place at Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER) in Chennai. Commenting on the allegations made by the volunteer, SII has said that there is no truth to his claims. While the institute understands his condition and health problems, it certainly has no connection with the vaccine.

The institute earlier informed the volunteer that his health conditions and any complications in his body were not a result of the vaccine trail. Yet he went ahead and filed charges against the institute, in turn tarnishing the image of the company. Serum Institute of India also added that there sure is an ulterior motive to this. They will now seek more than 100 crore damage.

Drugs Controller General of India and the institutional ethics committee are now conducting an investigation to find out whether there is any truth in the claims made by the volunteer.