Hospital worker in UP dies day after taking COVID-19 injection, officials deny vaccine link

A 46-year-old health worker in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad district died on Sunday evening, a day after being administered a coronavirus vaccine, NDTV reported. He had complained of breathlessness and tightness in the chest. Mahipal Singh worked as a ward boy at the district hospital. Moradabad Chief Medical Officer MC Garg said that his death was not related to the inoculation. “It does not seem to be a reaction to vaccination,” Garg said. “He [Singh] did night duty on Saturday too and there were no problems.”

Singh had received a shot of Serum Institute’s Covishield vaccine, according to The Times of India. His postmortem examination report showed that the immediate cause of his death was “cardiogenic shock/septicemic shock due to cardio-pulmonary disease”, NDTV reported. The health worker’s family also said that he had been unwell before vaccination, but felt worse afterwards. “My father left the vaccination centre around 1.30 pm, I brought him home,” Singh’s son told NDTV. “He was feeling breathless and he was coughing. He had a bit of pneumonia, the usual cough and cold, but he started feeling worse after returning home.”In a press release, the UP govt said it vaccinated 22,643 people on Saturday, day 1 of India's Covid Vaccination drive. The next day of vaccination in Uttar Pradesh is Friday, January 22.