Pregnant Woman Dies 24 Hours After Receiving First Dose Of COVID-19 Vaccine

A nine-month pregnant woman reportedly died within 24 hours after she received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Jharkhand, India on Thursday, Nov. 18.

On Wednesday, Nov. 17, the pregnant woman was allegedly coerced by health care workers to get vaccinated while visiting the customer service center of a bank where she had planned to withdraw money from. The health officials have not revealed the specific vaccine brand that the woman was administered, the New Indian Express reported.

Following her death, the deceased woman's husband, Jatin Murmu, has lodged a complaint with Shikaripara Block Development Officer (BDO) demanding action against the health workers who administered the jab. The complaint also demanded compensation for the deceased woman's husband.

The husband added that his wife complained of uneasiness within hours of vaccination at around 12 midnight. Following this, she was taken to the nearest Health and Wellness Center the next morning. However, the doctors at the center then referred her to Shikaripara Community Health Center (CHC) for advanced treatment.

At the CHC, the woman's husband was given a referral slip suggesting that his wife be admitted to the hospital with complaints of side effects of the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

As the woman's health condition started deteriorating, however, she was referred to transfer again to the Phulo Jhano Medical College and Hospital in Dumka, Jharkhand at around 4 p.m. After a couple of hours of treatment, the woman and her unborn child were declared dead at around 7 p.m., Naveen Bharat reported.

“I have sought a report on under what circumstances the pregnant women was vaccinated forcefully. They cannot get away just by saying that she died as she was anemic," State Health Minister Banna Gupta said.

Meanwhile, the Civil Surgeon (CS) of Dumka, Bachha Prasad Singh, insisted that the woman did not die due to COVID-19 vaccine complications and stated that the vaccine is equally safe for a pregnant woman as it is for a normal citizen.

“Complications of COVID vaccination, if there are any, are developed within half an hour of the jab when the vaccinated persons are kept under observation which is not the case pertaining to the deceased woman,” she said.

Meanwhile, Singh has gathered a team to investigate the reason behind the pregnant woman's death.