Hospital worker in India dies day after Covid jab, official says unrelated to vaccine

A 46-year-old government hospital employee in Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad in India died on Sunday evening, 24 hours after receiving a Covid vaccine shot. The district's Chief Medical Officer has said the death is unrelated to vaccination, reports NDTV.

Ward Boy Mahipal Singh died after complaining of chest congestion and breathlessness. According to his family, 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 for 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 chief medical officer, told reporters late last night.

The post mortem report reveals the immediate cause of death as "cardiogenic shock/septicemic shock" due to "cardio-pulmonary disease", according to the Uttar Pradesh government.

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 1.30pm, 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.