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Andhra Pradesh ASHA Worker Dies After Receiving Covid-19 Jab; Unions Protest

ASHA workers staged a demonstration in front of the Government General Hospital in Guntur demanding that a compensation of Rs 50 lakh be paid to the deceased's family.

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Andhra Pradesh ASHA Worker Dies After Receiving Covid-19 Jab; Unions Protest
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An Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) worker in Andhra Pradesh died on Sunday, with fellow workers alleging that she died after receiving the coronavirus vaccine. The incident took place at the Government General Hospital (GGH) in Guntur.

The exact cause of the woman's death would be revealed only after a post-mortem, Guntur district collector Samuel Anand said, but maintained that not a single Adverse Event Following Immunisation was reported in the district. So far, 10,099 healthcare staff in the area have been inoculated.

ASHA workers staged a demonstration in front of the GGH demanding that a compensation of Rs 50 lakh be paid to the deceased's family.

A leader of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions that led the protest picked up an argument with the district Collector when he visited the hospital to console the family members of the deceased.

The Collector said he would send a proposal to the state government for payment of compensation to the ASHA worker's kin, on the lines of that paid to frontline health workers who succumbed to Covid-19.

He also promised a house site besides a job to an eligible member of the family.

The 44-year old ASHA worker complained of severe headache and fever on January 22, three days after she took a shot of the coronavirus vaccine.

"We first took her to a private hospital and later shifted to the GGH as her condition worsened. She was a very fit person and rendered tireless service during Covid-19 time," the ASHA worker's brother said.

He denied that she suffered a brain stroke as was being said by the GGH doctors.

With PTI inputs