Covid vaccination: 16 minor adverse events on Tuesday

On the third day of the Covid-19 vaccination drive on Tuesday, when 4,936 beneficiaries got the jab, Delhi reported 16 minor adverse events from across the 81 sites in the city.

Of the sixteen, 15 had received Covishield which is being administered at 75 of the 81 vaccination sites.

The highest number of adverse events following immunisation (AEFi) – four -- was reported in Central district, followed by two each in North, Shahdara, South, and Southwest Delhi. One AEFI was reported each from East, Northwest and West Delhi districts.

Adverse events are observed with most vaccines and can range from pain, mild swelling at injection site and body ache to breathlessness and hospi. Experts said AEFIs needed to be evaluated in the context of risk-and-benefits associated with immunization.

In the case of coronavirus vaccines, the government has said that there can be mild AEFIs, such as pain and swelling at the site of injection, mild fever, nausea, giddiness and mild rashes. Serious AEFIs can be a severe allergic reaction, such as an anaphylactic shock, which could potentially require hospitalisation.

In comparison, there were 52 adverse events reported on the first day of vaccination when 4,319 people received the jab in Delhi. Of these, one was a severe allergic reaction in a 22-year-old security guard at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. He had to be admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit and was discharged a day later. He had received Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.

The next day the hospital saw just eight people turning up to get the shot. This increased to 55 persons on Tuesday.

Two other severe adverse event – requiring hospitalisation or hospital based observation – after Saturday’s vaccination drive was reported a day later by the hospitals. One from Northern Railway hospital and another in a security guard from Max Hospital Patparganj who fainted after receiving the shot.

On Monday, two more severe adverse events reported among the total 26 such reactions after the vaccination. One was in a 27-year-old doctor from Lal Bahadur Shastri hospital whose heartbeat turned irregular after getting the shot. The second reaction was reported in a 45 year-old doctor at south-west Delhi’s Venkateshwar hospital who had anaphylaxis.

Both had received Serum Institute of India’s Covishield.