37-Year-Old Woman Dies Of Hemorrhage Days After Receiving COVID-19 Vaccine

A 37-year-old woman in India died Monday, days after receiving the first dose of the Covishield vaccine.

The woman, identified as Divya Nair, suffered an intracerebral hemorrhage at a private hospital in the southern state of Kerala. Her husband claimed the woman from the district of Pathanamthitta had a headache and body pain after taking the COVID-19 vaccine on Aug. 2, and added her condition worsened as days passed.

Nair's husband, Jinu Kumar, said she received the vaccine at a government facility. He claimed the vaccine led to side effects that killed his wife, and approached the local police and district officials, urging for a probe into the death of his wife.

“After some days, she was taken to a private hospital. But her health issues became severe and an MRI scan, done on Aug. 14, detected bleeding in the brain. She was shifted to a private hospital in Kochi the same day and underwent two surgeries. On Aug. 19, she was shifted to a private hospital in Tiruvalla. Her condition worsened after the vaccination. So we have lodged a complaint demanding an inquiry into her death,” Kumar said, according to The New Indian Express.

Covishield is the made-in-India version of AstraZeneca’s jab. It is the most widely used vaccine in the country, with more than 486 million doses administered until last week.

“The exact cause of death has not been ascertained. I have sought an inquiry report after the woman’s relatives raised a suspicion that her condition worsened after she received the vaccine,” district medical officer A.L. Sheeja told local media.

Authorities said an autopsy will be conducted Tuesday at Kottayam Medical College, local media Mathrubhumi reported. The woman has a 7-year-old daughter.

In the last 24 hours, India recorded 25,072 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest in 160 days, while active cases declined to 333,924, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Monday. Of the total number, 13,383 fresh cases were recorded in the state of Kerala. The death count for the country climbed to 434,756 with 389 daily fatalities.

Last week, the death of a 31-year-old pregnant woman was said to be linked to complications associated with the COVID-19 vaccine. Mahima Mathew, a resident in the Kottayam district in Kerala, was in her first trimester of pregnancy when she died on Aug. 20. Authorities said Mathew received her first dose of Covishield on Aug. 6, following which she complained of severe headache. The woman was admitted to a hospital, where she was declared brain dead.