India / Man files complaint against SII CEO; says 'didn't get antibodies after vaccine dose'

A man in UP's Lucknow has filed a police complaint against SII CEO Adar Poonawalla alleging that he didn't develop COVID-19 antibodies despite taking a Covishield dose. He also claimed that he became more prone to the virus after vaccination as his platelet count reduced by half. Union Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal was also named in the complaint.

Vikrant Shekhawat : Jun 01, 2021, 09:41 AM
Lucknow: In what may further aggravate the worries of Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla amid the demand for Covid-19 vaccines, a complaint has been filed against the former besides others by a Lucknow resident.

Pratap Chandra, who has filed the complaint at Lucknow’s Aashiana Police Station, alleged that he did not develop antibodies despite taking a Covishield dose.

Stating that he received the first dose of Covishield on April 8, Chandra in the complaint said that he was supposed to receive the second dose 28 days later but he was told on the said day that the second dose date had been extended by six weeks.

The government, however, later revised the time gap between the two doses to 12 weeks.

Alleging that he has become more prone to the virus after taking the vaccine as his platelet count has been reduced by half, Chandra has in his complaint also named Union Health Ministry Joint Secretary Luv Agarwal, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director Balram Bhargava and National Health Mission Director Aparna Upadhyay besides others.

This arose as he took a Covid Antibody GT test from a government-approved lab but the test result revealed that the complainant did not develop any antibodies against Covid-19 instead his platelets had gone down to 1.5 lakh from 3 lakh, IANS reported.

The local police have, however, not filed any FIR with regard to the complaint and informed top officials considering the matter’s sensitivity before initiating any further action.

The man has threatened to move the court if no FIR is registered against those mentioned in his complaint.