SEOUL, Mar 3 (NNN-YONHAP) – Two South Koreans with underlying diseases, died today, after receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines.
A patient, around 50 years old, who had been in a nursing hospital in Goyang, just outside the capital, Seoul, received the first jab of the full two-dose vaccines, developed by the British-Swedish drug maker, yesterday morning.
The patient developed heart failure and difficulty in breathing by the afternoon, but recovered after going through emergency care.
The heart attack recurred this morning, before the death of the patient, who suffered from multiple conditions, such as heart problems, diabetes and stroke.
Another 63-year-old patient, who had been in a nursing hospital in Pyeongtaek, about 70 km south of Seoul, for a preexisting cerebrovascular disease, was inoculated in the afternoon, on Feb 27.
The patient began to show symptoms of high fever and pantalgia the following day. The recovery and aggravation of the symptoms repeated before the patient died this morning.
Nothing has been known yet, over relationship between the death and the vaccination. Health authorities reportedly planned to launch an epidemiological probe into the cases.
The country kicked off the mass vaccination campaign on Feb 26. As of today, the first shots of vaccines were administered to a total of 87,428 people, mostly patients in nursing facilities and medical staff treating COVID-19 patients.– NNN-YONHAP
