Sanitation worker dies from Health complications; Son claims was given COVID vaccine on Feb 17

New Delhi: A 54-year-old sanitation worker died from health complications on Monday, days after he was administered a coronavirus vaccine, according to his son.

Ramesh Kumar was rushed to Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital on Monday morning and died there in the afternoon, his son Dheeraj said. Since his post-mortem report is awaited, the cause of the death is yet to be ascertained.

Dheeraj said his father was employed in the Keshavpuram Zone of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation. There was no immediate reaction from officials of the civic body. “My father received his first shot of Covieshield vaccine on February 17. That day, when he returned home, he started feeling uneasy and the very next day, was running temperature, which lasted for 2-3 days,” Dheeraj said. He claimed that his father continued to go to work despite “weakness after getting the vaccine”.

“Today, he collapsed while on duty and was rushed to Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital where he died of health complications,” Dheeraj said. He also said a few leaders had visited his home on Monday and were talking about offering compensation and a job to the next of kin.

Dheeraj said he has an elder sister and a younger brother and his father was the “sole breadwinner” of the family. Over three lakh beneficiaries have received the COVID-19 vaccine to date in Delhi since the start of the inoculation drive a month ago, with more than 27,000 people receiving shots on Monday, according to data shared by officials. Of these, more than 1.35 lakh are health care workers and over 1.71 lakh frontline workers, as per the data.

On February 17, 15337 beneficiaries had got the vaccine shot, with an overall turnout of about 51 percent spread across 300 vaccination centers, according to the official data. “Four minor cases of AEFI (adverse events following immunization) were reported (on February 17),” a senior official had said.