Karnataka woman dies two hours after taking COVID jab, sixth post-vaccine death in state

BENGALURU: A 73-year-old woman from Kanakapura taluk died within two hours of taking the Covishield vaccine on Tuesday morning. This is the sixth death in the state among people who have taken the jab.

So far, according to the health bulletin produced by the department of health and family welfare, 21 people who have taken the vaccination have suffered serious adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) between January 16 and March 15, among which two faced severe AEFI.

According to district health officials, the woman went around 11.15 am to take the vaccination at Paduvanagere Government Hospital, Maralavadi Hobli, Kanakapura Taluk, Ramanagara district. After taking the vaccination, she was under observation for 30 minutes, during which she did not show any side effects.

"During her observation period, there were no side effects seen. After this, she left the hospital and we got the information that she passed away at 1.15 pm. I have met the family and the body has been further sent for post mortem. There is no need for the public to panic. We are going to wait for the post mortem reports. We have carried out more than 100 vaccinations in the district and no AEFI cases have been reported so far," said the DHO.

Of the six deaths, one was a 43-year-old male D-group worker of a government hospital in Ballari. The second was a 58-year-old doctor attached to a medical college in Shivamogga. The third was a 33-year-old ASHA worker from Belagavi. The fourth death was a 56-year-old waterman from Chikkaballapur who died eight days after taking the jab.

The most recent death occurred in Bengaluru on February 28 when a 71-year-old man who worked as a security guard at a private clinic near Konanakunte died 18 days after taking the first dose.

However, the government has stated that none of the deaths are correlated to the COVID-19 immunisation.