Clear air on Covid jab fatalities, Centre urged

Hyderabad: The Centre was on Sunday asked to come clean on the findings of the National Committee on Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI) over the death of 11 healthcare and frontline workers after they received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine.

This request was made in a letter to Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, Drugs Controller General of India Dr V.G. Somani, member Niti Aayog, Dr V.K. Paul, and secretary, department of biotechnology Dr Renu Swarup, editors of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, several public health experts, researchers, doctors, and others.

The letter said the 11 deaths in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana state, Haryana, Odisha, and Kerala — all reported between a few hours and five days of persons taking the vaccine Covishield — have been ascribed to cardiovascular problems or ‘brain stroke’.

Though the district and state officials have stated that none of the deaths was related to the vaccine, the reports of the district, state and national AEFI committees on the assessment of these deaths and other serious AEFIs have not been released. The national committee is obliged to investigate possible patterns in causative factors for these deaths, the letter said.

“The health and frontline workers who died, volunteered to take the vaccine with the trust in your decision to give emergency approval to the vaccine to protect them from a serious disease. They are owed some respect and dignity… and action based on that investigation,” the letter said.