First Death Confirmed After Covid-19 Vaccination In India

The first death due to anaphylaxis following Covid19 vaccination has been confirmed by the government panel, which is specialized in researching the side effects caused after taking the vaccine. As per a report submitted by the National Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI) Committee, a 68-year-old man died due to anaphylaxis after being vaccinated on March 8.

In a shocking update, the report said: “vaccine product-related reaction” as the cause of the death. The deceased had said to be taken Covishield. N.K. Arora, advisor, National AEFI committee said that this is the first death linked to COVID-19 vaccination due to anaphylaxis so far. It is advised to wait 30 mins at the inoculation centre after taking the vaccine. Because the anaphylactic reactions could be diagnosed in the next few minutes of taking the shot and can be treated to avoid further casualties.

NITI Aayog, member, (Health), V.K. Paul said that the unfortunate incident should not be fodder for fear among the public. “Whenever decisions about public health are taken we discuss the benefits and risks involved and in this case, the risk involved is minuscule as opposed to the gains,” said Paul. The report also stated that out of the 31 assessed cases, 18 were categorized as having an inconsistent causal association to vaccination, 7 were classified as indeterminate, 3 cases were found to be vaccine product related, one was anxiety-related reaction and two cases were found to be unclassifiable.

The report said that the results of the causality assessment of 31 cases approved by the national AEFI Committee on February 5 (five cases), March 9 (eight cases) and March 31 (18 cases) has been released after thorough review and deliberations. The Health Ministry said that the number of deaths reported following COVID-19 vaccination in the country is only 0.0002% of 23.5 crore doses administered which is within the expected death rates in a population.