Man dies minutes after receiving second dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Maharashtra's Bhiwandi district

In an incident, a 45-year-old man died minutes after receiving the vaccine for coronavirus in Maharashtra's Bhiwandi district. The post mortem reports are still awaited.

As India is currently continuing with its second phase of vaccination against novel coronavirus (COVID-19), an incident of death of a 45-year-old man has been reported from in Bhiwandi in Maharashtra's Thane district.

Sukhdeo Kirdit, employed as the driver of a local doctor, took the shot around 11 AM. He complained of giddiness after some time while he was seated in the waiting hall at the civic-run inoculation center, they said.

According to sources, Kirdat was declared dead in the hospital. "He was rushed to IGM Hospital nearby where doctors declared him dead on arrival," an official said.

Kirdit's family said he was a healthy person who had left home in the morning to take the second dose of the vaccine.

However, Bhiwandi Nizampura Municipal Corporation Health Officer Dr KR Kharat said the cause of Kirdit's death would be known after the postmortem report comes in, adding that Kirdit's medical history, records, etc. were being checked.

"Around 15 to 20 minutes after getting the vaccination, he fainted in the observation room. A medical officer rushed him to Indira Gandhi Memorial hospital," a medical officer was quoted as saying.

Based on the latest reports from the health officials, an addition of 607 new cases of coronavirus was recorded on Wednesday and currently, the tally in Maharashtra's Thane district stands at 2,66,092.

The vaccination drive which began from Monday across all states in India aims at giving vaccination against COVID-19 to everyone who is above 45-years-old and is with comorbidities.

So, far India has reported 40 death cases across the country post-vaccination since phase 1 began. According to the reports, in 17 of these death cases post-vaccination, no postmortem could be carried out.

Currently, there are 6,240 active COVID-19 cases in the district, the official said.

In neighbouring Palghar district, the COVID-19 case count has gone up to 46,059, while the death toll is 1,205, another official said.