Government panel confirms first fatality due to Covid vaccine
A government panel has said that one person died after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine in the country. According to the National AEFI committee’s report, a man (68 years) died due to anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis is a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.
He had received the vaccine shot on March 8 this year. The man, fully vaccinated, died on March 31.
The report said that three people from among the millions who received Covid-19 vaccines between February 5 and March 31 developed anaphylaxis due to the vaccine. The 68-year-old was among the three. The two others -- a 21-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man, however, recovered. They took their shots on January 19 and 16, respectively. Both recuperated after treatment in a hospital.
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The government had set up a committee to review serious side effects that could be linked to the vaccines. The panel assessed 31 serious adverse events after immunisation and confirmed one casualty.
"This is the first death where causality has been established, with vaccine resulting in an anaphylaxis reaction. But if you look at the overall numbers (crores of doses administered), and there is only this small number that got a severe reaction. There were 31 cases that were investigated and one death was due to vaccine, and among anaphylaxis cases, only two were found to be product-related. Most anaphylaxis reactions are managed," a report in Hindustan Times quoted Dr NK Arora, chairperson of AEFI, as saying.
In all, a total of 28 people died following the 60 million vaccine doses given between February and March, but their deaths were not appeared to be vaccine side-effects.
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