- A hospital in Kottayam declared a 31-year-old woman dead two weeks after her first dose of Covishield.
- However, the hospital hadn’t conducted an autopsy, and Kerala’s health department is awaiting the results of one.
- Cerebral venous thrombosis is a rare type of stroke, and reports of its occurrence in Europe earlier this year had stalled the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine there.
Bengaluru: The health department in Kottayam, Kerala, is awaiting a longer report on the death of a pregnant woman aged 31.
A controversy has erupted around her demise because the hospital she was being treated at has said that she died of cerebral venous thrombosis (a form of stroke) and vaccine-associated thrombocytopenia (low blood-platelet count).
These two conditions are very rare effects that experts in Europe prominently considered could be associated with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, earlier this year.
On August 6, Mahima Mathew received her first dose of Covishield, the name of the AstraZeneca vaccine in India, at the Mar Sleeva Medicity, a hospital in Pala, a town in Kottayam district. On August 15, she reportedly developed a severe headache and was admitted to the same hospital.
The next day, according to Indian Express, the hospital declared her to be brain dead, and confirmed her death on August 20. However, Mar Sleeva Medicity did not conduct an autopsy.
Read more: Kerala: Pregnant Woman Dies Two Weeks After First Covishield Dose
