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68-Yr-Old Man Dies of Severe Allergic Reaction Post-COVID Vaccination: India Confirms First Vaccine Death

68-Yr-Old Man Dies of Severe Allergic Reaction Post-COVID Vaccination: India Confirms First Vaccine Death
68-Yr-Old Man Dies of Severe Allergic Reactions Post COVID Vaccination

Amid the many reports of people dying post-COVID-19 vaccination, a government panel has confirmed the first vaccine death in India.

Written by Satata Karmakar |Updated : June 15, 2021 4:18 PM IST

In a first, a government panel studying COVID-19 vaccine side effects have confirmed the first death due to anaphylaxis following vaccination. Earlier, several reports of deaths following vaccination were reported from several parts of the country, however, none of them were confirmed by the centre. According to the reports, the causality assessment of 31 reported Serious Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI) cases following COVID-19 vaccination was carried out by the panel. The National AEFI Committee confirmed that a 68-year-old man died due to anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction) after being vaccinated on March 8, 2021.

India Confirms First Death Following COVID-19 Vaccination

"It is the first death linked to COVID-19 vaccination due to anaphylaxis. It re-emphasizes the need to wait for 30 minutes at the inoculation centre after receiving the jab. Most of the anaphylactic reactions occur during this period and prompt treatment prevents deaths," Dr. NK Arora, chairperson of, National AEFI committee, told the media.

The Committee examined five such cases that took place on February 5, eight cases on March 9, and 18 cases on March 31. As per data in the first week of April, the reporting rate is 2.7 deaths per million vaccine doses administered and 4.8 hospitalisations per million vaccine doses administered, the report stated. The panel said mere reporting of deaths and hospitalisations as serious adverse events does not automatically imply that the events were caused due to vaccines.

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Further Observations, Studies Are Required

Only properly conducted investigations and causality assessments can help in understanding if any causal relationship exists between the event and the vaccine, the report said, adding for causality assessments, priority has been given to death cases.Of the 31 causally assessed cases, 18 were classified as having an inconsistent causal association to vaccination (coincidental - not linked to vaccination), 7 were classified as indeterminate, 3 cases were found to be vaccine product related, 1 was anxiety-related reaction and two cases were found to be unclassifiable, the government panel report said.

Vaccine product-related reactions are expected reactions that can be attributed to vaccination based on current scientific evidence, it said. Examples of such reactions are allergic reactions and anaphylaxis, etc. Indeterminate reactions are reactions that have occurred soon after vaccination but there is no definitive evidence in current literature or clinical trial data that this event could have been caused due to the vaccine, the report said, adding further observations, analysis, and studies are required.

Vaccines Are The Only Tool To Fight Against COVID-19

In the two other cases of anaphylaxis, two persons were given vaccines on January 19 and 16 and both of them were hospitalised and have since recovered. Unclassifiable events are events that 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.

Coincidental events are events that are reported following immunisation but for which a clear cause other than vaccination is found on investigation. The panel said the benefits of vaccination are overwhelmingly greater than the small risk of harm and as a measure of utmost precaution, all emerging signals of harm are being constantly tracked and reviewed periodically.

(With inputs from Agencies)