1,156 died in India after taking Covid vaccine, highest in Kerala, Parliament is told

As of 29 March, 2023, a total of 220 crore vaccine doses have been administered to the country’s citizens as first, second, and precautionary doses. This means that only one out of 19 lakh have died after getting vaccinated.

However, the government has not provided the total number of deaths directly related to the vaccine.

These numbers also include vaccine product-related reactions, immunisation anxiety-related reactions, and indeterminate reactions — reactions that have occurred soon after vaccination but where there is no definitive evidence that this reaction could have been caused by the vaccine.

AEFI hospitalisations

A total of 92,479 citizens were reported to have been hospitalised after AEFI in the country, which means one for every 23,000 doses of vaccine administered. Out of total AEFI cases, 89,679 cases were minors, while 261 were severe, and only 2,539 cases were serious.

“Mere reporting of deaths and hospitalisations as serious adverse events does not automatically imply that the events were caused due to the vaccine. Only properly-conducted investigations and causality assessments can help in understanding if any causal relationship exists between the event and the vaccine,” said the Union Health Ministry.

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Highest deaths in Kerala

State-wise Covid-19 vaccination deaths.(MoHFW)

Of the total, the highest number of AEFI deaths was reported in Kerala. The sate reported a total of 244 deaths, out of a total of 5,397 AEFI cases. Also, the state reported the highest number of severe AEFI cases — 461 cases.

“The deaths are not directly related to the Covid-19 vaccinations. The people who died were also having other health ailments. So, we cannot directly blame it on the vaccines. The vaccine is safe and in any vaccination programme, there are adverse events,” a health official in Kerala told South First.

“However, at this scale, where more than five crore doses were administered, the death numbers are minuscule — only one death per 2.3 lakh doses. Also, we have reported every death in our state.”

Among the South Indian states, Karnataka reported 75 deaths and 6,628 AEFI cases, while Tamil Nadu reported 44 deaths and 1,665 AEFI cases.

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh both reported 37 deaths each. Telangana reported a total of 10,370 AEFI cases, while Andhra Pradesh reported 2,657 AEFI cases.

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Safe and effective

Speaking to South First, Dr Chaitanya Goud, a physician in Hyderabad, said that an overwhelming majority of people who received vaccines experience no serious side-effects.

He added that the Covid-19 vaccines are safe and effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalisation, and death caused by the virus. “However, as with any medical intervention, there can be rare, unexpected, or severe side-effects,” said Dr Goud.

He said that in extremely rare cases, some people experienced severe reactions to the vaccine, which can be life-threatening.

These reactions are anaphylaxis (allergic), myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle), and thrombosis with thrombocytopenia (blood clots in large blood vessels ), typically after vaccination.

“These cases are very rare. The risk of dying from Covid-19 is much higher than the risk of experiencing serious side-effects from the vaccine. The benefits of getting vaccinated far outweigh the potential risks, and widespread vaccination is critical to controlling the spread of Covid-19 and protecting public health,” he added.

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