Man Dies A Day After Receiving Taiwan-Made Medigen COVID-19 Vaccine

A 56-year-old man in Taiwan has died after he was administered the locally-made Medigen COVID-19 vaccine. He collapsed Tuesday morning, a day after he got jabbed.

This is the first alleged vaccine death reported in Taiwan, with initial reports saying he died of heart attack, reports Focus Taiwan. The deceased, identified by his surname Lu, was vaccinated Monday, the first day the Medigen Vaccine Biologics vaccine was administered in Taiwan.

The report, quoting fire department officials, said Lu was found without vital signs when paramedics arrived at his residence. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Lu’s Facebook post had documented that he had received his vaccine shot on Monday at 11 a.m. His children have added to the post that they felt honored to be receiving Medigen vaccine shots on the same day as Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, according to The China Post.

While the Taiwan Health Minister and Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) head Chen Shih-chung confirmed the news, he said an autopsy has to be done to determine the actual cause of death.

Despite that, Lu's death will be listed as a possible adverse event related to the Medigen vaccine. In a statement issued later Tuesday, Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp said it was "closely monitoring the case and waiting for official determination of the cause of death."

On the first day of Medigen drive, a total of 167,268 people, or around 90% of the 187,000 who made an appointment, got jabbed.

President Tsai Ing-wen also received the Medigen jab on Monday, showing the way for its population who show hesitancy to get vaccinated.

This comes as the Taiwan Medigen vaccination drive faces criticisms that its approval was rushed. The island's health ministry had authorized emergency use of Medigen vaccine despite clinical trials still uncomplete.

According to BBC, the vaccine made by Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp is yet to complete phase three trials. However, the company has assured that there were no major safety concerns and studies showed that "antibodies created were no worse than those created by AstraZeneca's vaccine."

"We have done so many experiments, everyone has seen how safe our vaccine is. There are so few side effects, almost no fever, and so on. So I think everyone can rest assured," Medigen's Chief Executive Officer Charles Chen told Reuters.

Meanwhile, many of the recipients who received the Medigen vaccine said they are "barely feeling" the vaccination and "felt no pain at all" from the injection. According to Taiwan News, this is because the needles used to deliver the jab are "ultra-thin."