Actor Vivekh's death not due to Covid-19 vaccine: Union health ministry report

CHENNAI: The death of Actor Vivekh in April was not related to the Covid-19 vaccine he had taken two days before, the causality assessment report released by the Union health ministry said.
A day before the sixth edition of the mega vaccination camp, health minister Ma Subramanian said rumours about his death being linked to Covid-19 vaccine increased hesitancy and hampered the vaccination drive in the state.
The vaccine coverage in Tamil Nadu continues to remain below the national average of 76% for first dose and 31% for the second dose, he said. Until Friday, 68% of adults in Tamil Nadu had taken the first dose and 26% of them have completed the vaccination course, he said. At least 57 lakh people are due for the second dose of the vaccine even as nearly 32% of adults - most of them senior citizens - are yet to take the vaccine.
On September 14, Union health ministry released the results of the causality assessment for 92 cases across India completed after thorough review, deliberation and approval by the National Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) committee. Among the anomolised line list of the causality assessment were details of a 59-year-old male who died two days after taking Covaxin due to "acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) with cardiogenic shock with ventricular fibrillation in a known case of hypertension."
Health officials in the state confirmed that it was the case sheet of actor Vivekh who died on April 17, two days after taking Covaxin. On August 27, the national committee classified his deaths as category C (coincidental - underlying/emerging condition(s)/conditions caused by exposure to something other than the vaccine).
Data from the immunization division showed that nearly 55% of senior citizens in the state are yet to take their first dose of the vaccine. "Evidences from across the globe and data from within the state, show that vaccination decreases incidence, hospitalisation and deaths of Covid-19," said DPH Dr TS Selvavinayagam. On Saturday, when the state begins vaccination drive from nearly 50,000 camps it will have more than 65 lakh doses in stock. "We hope to push the first dose coverage to at least 70% and the complete vaccination coverage to 30%," he said.