Families of those allegedly affected by the Covid-19 vaccines are calling for strong systems to take informed consent and provide full disclosure, before medical products like vaccines are administered to people.
Aggrieved families who lost young members, allegedly after they took the vaccines, came together in Delhi to seek greater accountability and transparency in public health policies, besides justice for those who were injured or affected by the vaccines.
“Provide full disclosure of all the side effects including the possibility of fatal adverse reactions. And also have informed consent prior to administering the vaccine,” a note from the aggrieved families said. Further, they pointed out, all promotional materials for vaccines should also mention the possibility of adverse reactions and that vaccines are totally voluntary and that the Government or other authorities were not responsible for any adverse reaction.
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The families also called for fast-track courts and vaccine courts to provide swift justice to the vaccine injured and their families. They called for a revamp of the present AEFI (Adverse Events following Immunisation) reporting system, which was “severely flawed”, they said, calling for “an active, transparent, accountable AEFI system.”
An active surveillance and monitoring mechanism also needs to be implemented, they said, to ensure Vaccine Adverse Events are identified as early as possible. Besides, early treatment protocols also must be created and widely publicised so that lives can be saved, they added.
The platform called for a review of the science behind all covid vaccines and audit of their commercialisation. They also called for those to be held accountable, who “misguided and coerced” people into taking the Covid-vaccines.
Speaking at the event, interventional cardiologist Dr Deepak Natarajan said, “The last 5 years have tragically taught us the ‘safe and effective’ vaccines were actually ‘unsafe and ineffective.’ They lied about the source of the virus, natural immunity, herd immunity, effectiveness of masks, the merits of lockdowns, 6 feet distance between people, prevention of infection, prevention of transmission, prevention of serious disease and death, with the ‘safe and effective’ vaccines.”
Supreme Court lawyer Colin Gonsalves said, the families whose children have died, are seeking justice from the Supreme Court. A case filed by two of the affected parents is expected to come up next week.
While representatives with the authorities and vaccine companies have in the past defended the vaccination campaigns, claiming, the benefits of the vaccines had out-weighed risks - they have not publicly responded to the issues raised recently by the aggrieved family members.