Bedridden Man's Family Claims He Began 'Walking, Speaking' After Getting Covishield Vaccine

In a "miraculous recovery," the family of a man, who was bedridden following a road accident five years ago, has claimed that he began "walking and speaking" after being administered the first shot of a COVID vaccine.

The man was administered the Covishield, a vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd and AstraZeneca, reported News 18.

Reports said the man, identified as Dularchand Munda, a resident of the Indian state of Jharkhand, was confined to bed after suffering severe spinal injuries following an accident. Since then, he was unable to speak or move.

However, the man received his first dose of vaccine on Jan. 4 as part of India's widespread vaccination drive.

"A health worker administered Covishield vaccine to Munda on Jan. 4 at his house. The next day, the family members were shocked when they saw Munda’s lifeless body not only started to move but he regained his speech too," said Albela Kerketta, head of a community health clinic, told the news outlet.

After reports about his "recovery" came out, the local health authorities have decided to investigate the claim. According to district civil surgeon Dr. Jitendra Kumar, a three-member medical team has been constituted to examine the claim. "This is a surprising incident. We will analyze Munda’s medical history," the news outlet quoted Dr. Kumar.

However, there is no official confirmation from the state about the claim.

Recently, a blind woman in India had claimed that she regained her vision after getting jabbed. Mathurabai Bidve, a 70-year-old woman, claimed she was living in dark for nine years until administering the vaccine. According to her, her vision began improving the day after she got her first dose. There was no official confirmation regarding her claims either.

The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, or Covishield, is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus (known as an adenovirus) from chimpanzees. It consists of two doses of 0.5 ml each and has 70-90 percent efficacy.

According to its manufacturers, the common side effects of the vaccine are fatigue, tenderness in the injection area, high temperature, sore throat, runny nose, cough and chills. In very rare cases, blood clots have been observed.

However, the company has not mentioned any extra benefits from the vaccine, other than protection from the infection.