Maharashtra Man Dies Shortly After 2nd Vaccine Dose, "Cause Not Known"

A 45-year-old man in Maharashtra died yesterday, shortly after taking a second dose of the anti-Covid vaccine. Doctors say the cause of death is not known yet.

Sukhdev Kirdat from Bhiwandi, who worked as a driver with an eye specialist, fainted in an observation room around 15 minutes after taking the second dose.

The father of two was taken to the Indira Gandhi memorial hospital nearby, where he was declared dead.

Doctors say the cause of death is not known yet and may be clearer after a post mortem.

He had taken his first dose on January 28 as a health worker.

"He took his first dose a month back and there was no problem. There was full check-up before this dose. We found out that he had blood pressure for many years. There were symptoms like swelling of feet. But here his BP was normal and oxygen was also normal," said KR Kharat, a doctor at the hospital.

"It is difficult to say what caused the death. There will be a post-mortem to establish that," Dr Kharat added.

People above 60 and those over 45 with other illnesses are being vaccinated in the second round of nationwide inoculations. Frontline and health workers received doses in the first round.

On Tuesday, Maharashtra vaccinated 33,044 people, slightly more than the previous day but much lower than daily vaccinations until last week.