1st post-vaccination death reported in India

NEW DELHI

A 46-year-old attendant at a public hospital in northern India died Monday shortly after being vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.

In the first such fatality since the country launched its mass vaccination campaign on Saturday, Mahipal Singh reported breathlessness and unease in the chest before he died within 24 hours of receiving a dose of the Covishield vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India and developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, the chief medical officer of the Moradabad district hospital, where Singh served in Uttar Pradesh state, confirmed that he had reported heart-burn as well as tightness and was given medical attention on Sunday but died by 1205 GMT.

"Ninety-one immunizations occurred in the session where Singh was given the jab. We haven't received any other complaints except minor adverse events of fever and headache, which was expected. We are still looking into the cause," said Dr. MC Garg.

Garg added that in six sessions on Saturday, a total of 479 people had been immunized at the hospital.

"He was a little unwell before he took the jab, but his condition worsened after the dose on Saturday. We rushed him to the hospital," Singh's family members told local media.

A post-mortem report conducted by the hospital ascertained the cause of death to be cardiogenic shock owing to cardiopulmonary disease.

"A large amount of clotted blood was seen in the main artery and heart chambers. Death due to cardiogenic/septicemic shock due to an underlying cardiopulmonary disease," read the report from the hospital.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Health confirmed that nearly 447 adverse events following immunization had been reported in the country. Of these, it said three had to be hospitalized.

A total of 224,301 healthcare workers have been inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine in the first two days.

India's COVID-19 daily caseload dropped to 13,788 in the last 24 hours as of Monday morning. This is the first time the figure dropped below 15,000 since mid-June.

The total caseload now stands at 10,571,773 and the death toll at 152,419 with 145 new fatalities.