UP ward boy dies 24 hrs after getting COVID shot; ‘death unrelated’, claims official

A man died on Sunday evening 24 hours after he had received a COVID-19 vaccine shot in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad.

The deceased, Mahipal Singh, 46, was employed as a ward boy. The Chief Medical Officer of the district has claimed that the death was not related to vaccination, reported NDTV.

According to the report, Singh had complained of chest congestion and breathlessness, even as his family said he had been unwell before the jab.

“He was vaccinated on Saturday around noon. On Sunday he felt breathless and complained of chest congestion. We are inquiring into the reasons of the death. We will get a post mortem done. It does not seem to be a reaction to vaccination. He did night duty on Saturday too and there were no problems,” MC Garg, Moradabad’s CMO was quoted saying by NDTV.

The report added that post mortem revealed the immediate cause of death as “cardiogenic shock/septicemic shock” due to “cardio-pulmonary disease”.

The man’s son told the media he may have been unwell before the vaccination, but that he felt worse after receiving the shot. “My father left the vaccination centre around 1.30 pm, I brought him home. 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,” Mahipal Singh’s son Vishal told the media.

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.