3.81 LAKH PEOPLE VACCINATED, 580 ADVERSE EVENTS SO FAR: CENTRE

India has so far administered Covid-19 vaccine shots to more than 3.81 lakh people, out of which only 580 adverse events have been reported after Day 3 of the massive vaccination drive. The Union Health Ministry on Monday said that 1,48,266 beneficiaries were administered shots on Day 3, taking the total to 3,81,305.

Two persons have also died, but these are not related to vaccines, the Health Ministry confirmed.

One death was reported from Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday evening. Mahipal Singh, 46, a ward boy at a government hospital, had received the vaccine shot 24 hours before. The district›s Chief Medical Officer, however, said the death is unrelated to vaccination.

The postmortem report reveals the immediate cause of death as “cardiogenic shock/septicemic shock” due to “cardio-pulmonary disease”, the state government said. According to his family, he had been unwell before the jab.

The deceased›s son told reporters that he was unwell before the vaccination, but that he felt worse after receiving the shot. «My father left the vaccination centre around 1.30 p.m., I brought him home. He was feeling breathless and he was coughing. He had a bit of pneumonia, the usual cough and cold, but he started feeling worse after returning home,» Mahipal Singh›s son Vishal said.

Dr M.C. Garg, Moradabad chief medical officer, told reporters that «Dharampal›s death is not related to vaccination. He did night duty on Saturday too and there were no problems.»

The second person to die was a 43-year-old man in Bellary district, Karnataka. The government said he had died of cardio-pulmonary failure. The postmortem is yet to be done, the government said. The state government said none of the other health care workers who took the vaccine from the same vial had any adverse events.

Nagaraju, the state government said, came to work in the morning and complained of chest pain. He collapsed and was admitted in hospital, but could not be saved.

Later in the evening, Karnataka health minister K. Sudhakar said the man did not suffer a heart attack because of the vaccine. «The man had a massive heart attack. He had a history of diabetes and comorbidity,» he said, adding that the man was administered the vaccine on Saturday and had no symptoms.

Of the seven people hospitalised, three are from Delhi. Two persons have been discharged and one is under observation at Max Hospital. Two cases have been reported from Karnataka, one of the patients is still under observation. One person is under observation in Uttarakhand, at the AIIMS Rishikesh. Another person is hospitalised in Chhattisgarh.

About one crore health workers and two crore frontline workers will receive the vaccine initially. Later, it would be the turn of 27 crore people who are either above the age of 50 years or suffer from co-morbidities like diabetes and hypertension.

WITH AGENCY INPUTS