Tamil actor Vivek did not die due to COVID vaccination, but cardiac arrest, confirmed the Immunization Division of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Vivek, a known comedian, died on April 17, 2021, two days after he took his Covaxin shot.
The News Minute quoted a report of the National Committee on Serious Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI), dated September 14, to conclude that the 59-year-old actor’s death was coincidental and not related to the Covaxin shot that he had taken on April 15, 2021.
The AEFI committee report is deemed final because it goes through several levels of verifications, before it submits its observations.
The report stated the cause of Vivek’s death as ‘Acute myocardial infarction with cardiogenic shock with ventricular fibrillation in a known case of hypertension.’
Acute myocardial infarction means heart blockage; cardiogenic shock refers to a condition where heart stops pumping blood and ventricular fibrillation refers to an abnormal heart rhythm. In short, the cause of Vivek’s death is cardiac arrest.
A senior Tamil Nadu health official corroborated AEFI report. The News Minute quoted the official to say that Vivek’s ECMO and ECG reports had been submitted to the District AEFI and then the State AEFI, and that both these committees had come to the same conclusion.
Vivek died at SIMS Hospital in Vadapalani in Chennai on April 17. The immediate cause of death was reported as cardiac arrest. Doctors had then said that the actor had a 100% blockage in the LAD (left anterior descending artery) vessel which led to a massive cardiac arrest.
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According to the Tamil Nadu Health Department, 61% eligible people in the 18-44 age group and 74% people in the 45-59 age group have taken at least one dose of the vaccine but the figure for those above 60 years is only 45%.
Clarity about Vivek’s death is likely to help the cause of vaccination.