Karnataka health department employee dies after COVID-19 vaccine jab, officials say death not related

According to the Union Health Ministry, 580 cases of Adverse Event Following Immunization have been reported across the country so far.

Representational Image (Reuters)

Bengaluru: Two days after being administered the COVID-19 vaccine, a Karnataka health department employee died on Monday (January 18, 2021), which according to officials is not related to the vaccine.

The official statement by the Karnataka Health Department said that Nagaraju, 43, resident of Ballari district, passed away due to massive heart attack.

The statement said, "He was vaccinated on 16/01/21 at around 1:00 PM and was normal till today morning (no uneventful events in 24 hours after vaccination). Today morning when he came to duty, he complained of chest pain at around 09:30 am and collapsed. He was treated immediately and referred to Jindal Sanjeeveni hospital for higher treatment. He was admitted in Jindal Sanjeeveni Hospital at 11:15 am. Highest level of  treatment was provided, but he couldn't be saved."

The statement added that none of the other health care workers who took the coronavirus vaccine from the same vial had any adverse events.

A district-level AEFI Committee also met and had detailed discussions and the conclusion is that the death was due to cardio respiratory arrest secondary to acute antereo septal wall MI.

Notably, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday, 580 cases of Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) have been reported across the country so far. An AEFI is any unexpected medical occurrence which follows immunization and it may or may not be related to the vaccine or vaccination process. Out of 580 cases, seven have required hospitalization. 

Meanwhile, Karnataka reported 435 new coronavirus cases and nine deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total infection count to 9,32,432 and toll to 12,175. The state has also witnessed 9,12,205 discharges. 

Earlier in the day, another death of a 52 year male from Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad was reported. He was vaccinated on January 16 and died on the evening of January 17. The Union Health Ministry said that the death was not related to vaccination as per the post mortem report and was caused due to cardiopulmonary disease.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare also announced that over 1.48 lakh beneficiaries got vaccinated across India on day 3 of the COVID-19 vaccination drive. On the third day, 1,48,266 beneficiaries were vaccinated till 5 pm. A total of 3,81,305 beneficiaries have been vaccinated through 7,704 sessions, as per the provisional report.

India which is seeing a declining trend of COVID-19 confirmed cases has seen a total of 1,02,11,342 recoveries so far, while the active cases across India stand at 2,08,012. India's recovery rate has now touched 96.59 per cent. The daily fatalities due to COVID-19 in the country have also witnessed a steady decline. India recorded less than 150 fatalities (145) in the last 24 hours after approximately 8 months.