488 AEFI deaths, but not necessarily due to vax: Govt

New Delhi: Asserting that vaccines approved by the government are safe and the only weapon against coronavirus, the government on Tuesday said deaths reported post-vaccination standing at 488 were a small percentage of the number of doses given, but this did not mean they were due to vaccination.

“We ascertain if it is a minor adverse event or it is a serious or severe adverse event. Then it is monitored and causes are ascertained. The vaccines approved by us, their safety parameters are very good. When 23.5 crore doses were given, AEFI (adverse events following immunisation) deaths were 0.0002 per cent which comes to 488 deaths which does not mean these deaths were because of vaccination,” said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry.

AEFI is defined as ‘any untoward medical occurrence which follows immunisation’ and which does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the usage of the vaccine.

Reports in the media said one case of vaccine-related death was confirmed due to severe allergic reaction.

In a press statement issued earlier, the health ministry said there have been media reports suggesting an increase in the cases of severe AEFI that have also resulted in ‘succumbing of patients’ post-vaccination.

“It is clarified that these reports are based on incomplete and limited understanding of the matter at hand,” it stated.