Vietnam records first Covid-19 vaccination death

The professional council of the southern province’s health department said the cause of death was anaphylaxis due to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug allergy. "This is a very rare case after taking Covid-19 vaccination."

Dr. Tu Quoc Tuan, director of the provincial health department, said the woman was vaccinated Thursday morning at the Tan Chau General Hospital. Before she was given the injection, she’d had a medical check and was informed of possible post-vaccination symptoms.

She experienced a post-vaccination shock and was treated at the hospital as per with the protocol. The hospital also consulted with the General Hospital of An Giang and Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City in treating the woman.

The patient was transferred soon to the provincial general hospital and the health ministry requested Cho Ray Hospital to send active resuscitation specialists and provide emergency assistance. However, the patient died Friday.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long called the woman’s family and the medical staff of the hospital to express his condolences.

Vietnam began administering the Covid-19 vaccine produced by the AstraZeneca company on March 8. As of Friday, 747,827 people in 57 provinces and cities had been inoculated.

Inoculation priority has been given to medical workers treating Covid-19 patients; those collecting samples for testing; members of Covid-19 prevention groups; members of the Steering Committee for Covid-19 prevention; police and army personnel.

Minister Long had said Thursday that a review of over 600,000 people who had been vaccinated showed that 16 percent had normal reactions after vaccination. These reactions disappeared after 24 hours of being injected. This rate was lower than in other countries. A few cases with more severe reactions have been handled well by doctors, he added.

To date, Vietnam has received two batches of Covid-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca: the first in February with 117,600 doses under a contract purchase by the Vietnam Vaccine Company; and the second of more than 800,000 doses in late March under the Covax facility, an initiative established by the United Nations for equitable access.

As planned, Covax will provide an additional 1.6 million doses to Vietnam on May 10. The vaccines will continue to be used for inoculating identified priority groups.