Vaccination against Covid-19 picked up steam on Monday with 1.48 lakh persons receiving the jab across 25 states and union territories, taking the total vaccinated persons so far to 3.81 lakh.
Two persons receiving Covid-19 vaccines have died – one in Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh and one in Ballari in Karnataka – but health officials claimed that the deaths were due to co-morbid conditions and not due to vaccination.
Of the 580 cases of ‘adverse event following immunisation’ (AEFI) reported so far, seven have required hospitalisation – two in Chitradurga in Karnataka, three in Delhi, and one each in Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh. Of the seven, two in Delhi have already been discharged while the rest were under observation in different hospitals.
A 43-year-old male, who was vaccinated on Saturday in Ballari, passed away on Monday with preliminary reports indicating heart failure as the cause of death. Officials said that the post-mortem was being carried out at Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences, Ballari, to ascertain the exact cause of death.
In Moradabad, a 52-year-old male, who was administered the vaccine on Saturday, died on Sunday evening.
“Post mortem by a board of three doctors revealed death due to cardiopulmonary disease – pockets of pus in lungs and an enlarged heart – and not related to vaccination,” Manohar Agnani, Additional Secretary, Health Ministry told reporters here.
On Monday, Karnataka reported the highest number of vaccinations at 36,888 till 5.00 p.m., followed by Odisha (22,579), West Bengal (11,588), Telangana (10,352) and Andhra Pradesh (9,758).
“A total of 3,81,305 beneficiaries have been vaccinated till 5:00 p.m. on Monday in 7,704 sessions,” Agnani said adding that the final reports would be compiled late Monday night.