Budaun: Man claims vaccine blinded him, Allahabad HC asks DM if he can be compensated

Petitioner Prabha Mishra had filed the petition seeking compensation for her husband “for blindness due to vaccine of Covid-19”.

She urged the court to issue directions to the respondents to decide and consider her representation dated April 19.

The Allahabad High Court has directed the Budaun district magistrate (DM) to decide if a government employee who claims to have lost vision in both eyes after being vaccinated for Covid-19 is eligible for compensation in accordance with the law.

Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi on Monday disposed of a writ petition filed by lekhpal (government accountant) Aishwary Kumar Sharma’s wife “with an observation that in case the petitioner makes fresh representation along with all relevant medical reports to the District Magistrate, Budaun, ventilating his grievances within one week, the authority would decide the same in accordance with law expeditiously”. The couple has a 10-year-old son.

Petitioner Prabha Mishra had filed the petition seeking compensation for her husband “for blindness due to vaccine of Covid-19”. She urged the court to issue directions to the respondents to decide and consider her representation dated April 19.

Story continues below this ad

Mishra told The Indian Express on Wednesday that her husband “lost vision soon after getting the vaccine for Covid-19 on February 12”, and claimed she moved court after officials refused to hear her out.

“On February 12, my husband Aishwary Kumar Sharma, who is a Lekhpal in Bisauli tehsil of Budaun district, got the first dose of the vaccine on the tehsil premises during a camp organised by the administration. He got Covishield. After getting the first dose, he came home with a high fever and headache and his eyes had turned red. We thought that the redness in the eyes must be due to the fever. Then after four days, his fever did not go and he started vomiting. His headache was also persistent and despite taking heavy doses of paracetamol, the fever and headache stayed. Then, his vision became blurry and we took an eyedrop from a local chemist and used that. But there was no relief and seven days after getting the vaccine, he started discharging pus from his eyes,” said Mishra.

She claimed he had no comorbidities, and added, “He has no history of any complication with his eyes and used to work at a government office.”

Asked about her husband’s treatment for the eye problems, Mishra said, “First, I took him to a doctor in Budaun district, and the doctor treated him for one week. The doctor referred him to AIIMS. But instead, we went to Bareilly district, which is close, and consulted a private doctor. The Bareilly doctor said the infection happened due to the vaccine and referred him to AIIMS or Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh. Then, we went to Aligarh, where the doctors said he should be taken to AIIMS. The doctors at AIIMS tried to treat his eyes, but then gave up and said his eyesight will not return.”

Asad Rehman

Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram