The death of a 68-year-old man has been confirmed in India following vaccination against Coronavirus. The news has been confirmed by a government panel that was studying vaccine side-effects.
The man died due to anaphylaxis -- a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction -- after he was given a coronavirus vaccine.
The report of the AEFI for serious adverse events following the immunization committee had assessed reports of 31 serious events after the Covid vaccination has confirmed that a person succumbed to anaphylaxis after taking a Covid vaccine.
Dr NK Arora, AEFI Chairperson has confirmed death following covid vaccination but refused to comment or furnish further details.
According to the death assessment report, the 68-year-old man took his covid vaccine dose on March 8, 2021, and died due to anaphylaxis.
"It is the first death that we have seen in which the reason of death after an investigation was found to be anaphylaxis after vaccination,” Dr NK Arora, AEFI chairperson, said.
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Three more fatalities were also found to be because of vaccine reactions, however, the government committee has only validated the death of one person after the immunisation.
The panel report on the death of a vaccinated person said, "Vaccine product-related reactions are expected reactions that can be attributed to vaccination based on current scientific evidence. Examples of such reactions are allergic reactions and anaphylaxis, etc."
Anaphylaxis cases of two individuals in their early 20s have also been reported, who got their vaccines on January 19 and 16. They both recovered after a brief period of hospitalization.
31 deaths were evaluated by the government panel, whereas 18 were classified as having an 'inconsistent causal association to vaccination (coincidental - not linked to vaccination), seven were classified as indeterminate and two cases were found to be unclassifiable'.
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The AEFI committee report stated: "Unclassifiable events are events which have been investigated but there is not enough evidence for assigning a diagnosis due to missing crucial information.....When this relevant information becomes available, the case may be reconsidered for causality assessment.”