TLI Staff
New Delhi: Two post-Covid vaccination deaths have been reported with 580 cases of adverse events such as fever, nausea and headache since the mega inoculation drive kicked off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 16.
“Of the two deaths reported, death of the 52 year male from Moradabad, UP (who was vaccinated on 16th Jan 2021 and died on evening of 17th Jan 2021) is not related to vaccination as per the post mortem report. Death was caused due to cardiopulmonary disease,” an official statement said.
The second death was of a male person aged 43 years, resident of Bellary, Karnataka. He was vaccinated on January 16 and died today. The cause of death has been reported to be anterior wall infarction with cardiopulmonary failure. The post mortem of the Bellary resident would happen at Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences in the city.
Even before the vaccination drive began there has been concern around safety as well as efficacy of the vaccines — Covishield and Covaxin produced by Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech, respectively. While Covishield has been supplied to all states/UTs, Covaxin has been supplied to 12 states.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asserted that the India-made vaccines are safe and urged the citizens to not believe rumours. But many people are not ready to trust the words and asked why Modi has himself not taken the shot so far.
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has said that both the indigenously manufactured vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin have proven safety and immunogenicity records and are the most important tools to contain the pandemic.
Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari on Saturday raised questions over the emergency use approval to the vaccines and alleged that it was cleared without following due process. Top leaders from the ruling BJP have, however, rejected this claiming that the opposition Congress was misleading the people.
Not surprisingly, a large number of frontline health care workers who registered for vaccination did not turn up at the appointed time and date. This is the reason only 1.91 lakh people could be vaccinated on the first day of vaccination as against the target of 3 lakh. Since vaccination is voluntary, government agencies cannot force any person for it.
As per a bulletin issued by health Ministry on Monday, a total of 1,48,266 beneficiaries were vaccinated till 5 PM, the third day of nationwide vaccination exercise.
A total of 3,81,305 beneficiaries were vaccinated till 5PM Monday through 7,704 sessions, as per a provisional report. Karnataka topped the vaccination chart on Monday followed by Odisha. The numbers from the most populated Uttar Pradesh had not been updated in the provisional report. The state had the maximum number of people vaccinated on the inaugural day.
As many as 580 cases of Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) have been reported so far. Out of these, seven required hospitalization. Of the three cases reported from Delhi, two have been discharged whereas one case reporting fainting is under observation at Max Hospital, Patparganj.
“The reported case of AEFI in Uttarakhand is stable and under observation at AIIMS, Rishikesh. In Chhattisgarh, one person is under observation at the Government Medical College, Rajnandgaon. Of the two cases of AEFI in Karnataka, one is under observation at District Hospital, Chitradurga and the second person is under observation at General Hospital, Challakere, Chitradurga,” the government statement has said.