Health officials this morning said a man’s death not long after being vaccinated was unrelated caused by a pre-existing disease.
Looking to allay fears after misinformation began circulating in Thai media yesterday, health officials said the man, who died one week after being vaccinated earlier this month, was born with a congenital disease and had surgery for an aortic aneurysm prior to being vaccinated.
“We do believe that he died from aortic aneurysm, a disease that he was born with. The disease is like a ticking time bomb,” Tawee Chotipittayasunon of the Disease Control Board said at Friday’s emergency press briefing.
Tawee said the unidentified man spent 40 days in the hospital after an operation in late January to repair his aorta following an aneurysm. Soon after he was released, the man received an unspecified vaccine on March 3 and reported no issues on three subsequent days of checkups.
The only known adverse reaction to the various COVID-19 vaccines found in extensive clinical trials is an extremely rare, non-life threatening allergic reaction that takes place within minutes of being jabbed. It’s why those being inoculated are required to remain under observation for about 15 minutes afterward.
Sophon Mekthon of the Ministry of Public Health said only 11 people of the approximately 100,000 to receive a shot so far have responded with an allergic reaction.
A week after the deceased Thai man received his shot, he reported chest tightness, dizziness and a lapse of consciousness. He was admitted to a hospital where he died March 13.
That didn’t stop media reports circulating on Thursday declaring him the “vaccine’s first dead.”
The man’s name, age and the brand of vaccine he received were not disclosed at this morning’s briefing, and no questions were taken.
Tawee reassured people that the vaccines are safe.
“I’ve already had my first dose of AstraZeneca,” he said.
Thailand on Thursday gave emergency authorization to use the single-dose vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson, the third to be approved after AstraZeneca and CoronaVac.
Only a limited number of AstraZeneca and the Chinese CoronaVac doses have reached Thailand from abroad, while its much-criticized domestic production plans have languished and are now not expected to begin until June.
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