Mahipal Singh, a 46-year-old government hospital employee from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, died on Sunday evening, 24 hours after he had received the Covishield vaccine shot. However, officials say that his death is unrelated to the vaccine.  Singh was reportedly complaining of chest congestion and breathlessness before he passed away, and family members say he was not feeling well even before he received the vaccination. They also stated that he had never tested positive for the coronavirus before.

Dr MC Garg, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Moradabad district told the Times of India, “Mahipal Singh was given the Covishield vaccine at about 12 noon on Saturday. On Sunday afternoon he suffered pain in the chest with breathlessness.  He worked the night shift after the vaccination and we don’t think the death is due to any side effect of the vaccine.” The CMO also stated that they are trying to identify the exact cause of the death from the autopsy results.

According to the Uttar Pradesh government, the post-mortem deemed “cardiogenic shock/septicaemic shock” due to “cardio-pulmonary disease” as the immediate cause of Singh’s death.

Vishal Singh, Mahipal’s son, told the Times of India that his father may have been unwell before receiving the vaccination, and that he had a fever about a fortnight ago. But his condition worsened after the shot. His father had asked him to come pick him up from the hospital after getting the vaccination because he was unable to ride his two-wheeler back home. On reaching home, Mahipal was asked to rest by his family members because he had experienced breathlessness and coughing. His health deteriorated and was taken to the hospital on Sunday, where he was declared dead. “I feel it was the side effects of the vaccination,” Vishal alleged.

Around 479 health workers in Moradabad and 22,643 health workers in Uttar Pradesh were vaccinated on Saturday, the first day of India’s vaccination drive. The next round of vaccinations in the state will be conducted on January 22, 2021.