Covid vaccination- 2 deaths, 580 AEFIs, 7 hospitalizations, 580 AEFIs - Two deaths probed, not linked to vaccine: Govt

The health ministry said on Monday it had recorded a total of 580 AEFIs, including seven hospitalizations, and two deaths, one in Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh), the other in Bellary (Karnataka)

A doctor receives the first dose of Covishield at a government hospital in Bikaner on Monday: PTI

TT Bureau   |   New Delhi   |   19.01.21 : Health authorities have investigated two deaths among over 381,000 people who have received Covid-19 vaccines over the past three days, but the health ministry said there have been no serious or severe adverse effects attributable to the vaccines.

The health ministry said on Monday it had recorded a total of 580 adverse events following immunisation (AEFIs), including seven hospitalisations, and two deaths, one in Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh), the other in Bellary (Karnataka).

A 52-year old hospital worker in Moradabad died on Sunday evening after receiving the vaccine on Saturday. The health ministry said a post-mortem examination by a panel of three doctors had “revealed death due to cardiopulmonary disease (pockets of pus in lungs, enlarged heart) — not related to the vaccination.”

In the other case, a 43-year old man in Bellary died on Monday after receiving the vaccine on Saturday. “The cause of death was anterior wall infarct with cardiopulmonary failure,” the ministry said, adding that a post-mortem was being done on Monday at a Bellary hospital.

Medical experts say unprecedented surveillance for AEFIs is likely to detect adverse events, particularly in a mass immunisation campaign for adults in which some individuals who have underlying, undiagnosed health disorders may also receive the vaccinations.

The health ministry did not specify which of the two vaccines used in the immunisation campaign — Covishield, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine made in India by the Serum Institute of India, and Covaxin, the homegrown vaccine from Bharat Biotech — had been received by the two persons who died.

The Karnataka health department said none of the other healthcare workers who took the vaccine from the same vial had any adverse events. “The conclusion is that the death was due to cardiorespiratory arrest” resulting from a heart attack, the department said.

A set of instructions circulated by the health ministry to all states last week had said a history of chronic diseases or underlying disorders such as cardiac, neurological, pulmonary, renal or malignancies are “not contraindications” for Covid-19 vaccines — in other words, people with such health disorders can receive the vaccines.

In Moradabad, Vishal Singh, the son of the deceased said his father had no history of heart or pulmonary disorder. “My father had reached hospital by motorcycle on Saturday. He called me in the afternoon and said he was unable to move on his own. I rushed to the hospital and brought him home in an autorickshaw. His condition aggravated in the night as he became breathless and complained of chest pain. He also had fever.”

“We somehow took him to the district hospital on Sunday late afternoon but there was no doctor willing to attend to him. We used a stretcher and took him to the emergency room. There also, nobody started his treatment for about two hours,” Vishal said.

Rajendra Kumar, medical superintendent at the hospital said: “Mahipal was administered the corona vaccine. He complained of chest pain and breathlessness thereafter. A physician had attended to him at that time. A doctor checked him soon after he was brought to the hospital the next day but he had already died of a heart attack.”

The district’s chief medical officer M.C. Garg met the family members on Monday and told them he was inquiring into the case. “His post-mortem report confirmed that he died of a heart attack. His death had nothing to do with the vaccine,” Garg said.