A 46-year-old health worker in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad district died on Sunday evening, a day after being administered a coronavirus vaccine, NDTV reported. He had complained of breathlessness and tightness in the chest.

Mahipal Singh worked as a ward boy at the district hospital. Moradabad Chief Medical Officer MC Garg said that his death was not related to the inoculation. “It does not seem to be a reaction to vaccination,” Garg said. “He [Singh] did night duty on Saturday too and there were no problems.”

Singh had received a shot of Serum Institute’s Covishield vaccine, according to The Times of India. His postmortem examination report showed that the immediate cause of his death was “cardiogenic shock/septicemic shock due to cardio-pulmonary disease”, NDTV reported.

“Deceased Mahipal’s heart was found enlarged and it had blood clots according to the postmortem report,” the chief medical officer said, according to PTI. “It appears that Mahipal was suffering from a cardiac disease.” The postmortem analysis, performed by three doctors, confirmed the cause of death, adding there was “no relation with corona vaccine”.

The chief medical officer admitted that some of those inoculated had been “facing general problems but not like Mahipal”.

The health worker’s family also said that he had been unwell before vaccination, but felt worse afterwards. “My father left the vaccination centre around 1.30 pm, I brought him home,” Singh’s son, Vishal Singh, told NDTV. “He was feeling breathless and he was coughing. He had a bit of pneumonia, the usual cough and cold, but he started feeling worse after returning home.”

Mahipal Singh’s family, however, claimed he never had any cardiac ailments, and was healthy except for a fever and cough. “My father was not suffering from corona even when he performed his duty properly during the pandemic,” his son told PTI.

The Moradabad district magistrate said that the vaccines were completely safe, and no side-effects were flagged. “The case of Mahipal is exceptional and a high-level medical inquiry will be ordered,” he added.

As many as 479 health workers in Moradabad were administered vaccines on Saturday, according to The Times of India.

Follow today’s live updates on the coronavirus.

Also read:

Covid vaccination: 447 adverse cases reported so far, only 3 hospitalised, says health ministry

The health ministry had on Sunday said that 447 adverse events following immunisation were reported across the country since the beginning of the vaccination drive on January 16. It added that most of the cases were minor and only three needed hospitalisation.

An adverse event following immunisation, or AEFI, is any unexpected medical occurrence following inoculation but may or may not be related to the vaccine or the vaccination process.

The government said that as many as 2,24,301 beneficiaries had been inoculated so far. A total of 17,072 frontline workers were administered the vaccines during 553 sessions held in six states on Sunday.

The Centre is planning to inoculate 30 crore people over the next few months. About 3 crore healthcare and frontline workers are being vaccinated first. After that, people over the age of 50 and those with comorbidities would get inoculated.