Three days after a social media post, which had gone viral allegedly attributing the death of a teenaged girl from Ghatkopar after being vaccinated, a state-level expert committee which claimed to have probed the death of the girl on Monday ruled out the cause of death to be Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI). It, however, gave no details of its investigation.
The 15-year-old girl had confirmed died due to cardiac arrest, BMC officials confirmed and the even said that they have initiated legal action against those who have been spreading the rumour using her picture.
The matter became a talking point when a Delhi-based doctor Dr Tarun Kothari, who is also the author of a book named - Corona Pandemic Sandal: The biggest Scam in the history of mankind, on January 14 tweeted that the girl had died due to vaccination. The BMC had vehemently denied it as misinformation and threatened to initiate legal action.
Following this, BMC's official Twitter handle tweeted: " Breaks our heart to confirm the unfortunate demise of Arya, a very bright girl. Her family affirmed that it was a natural death due to cardiac arrest. May they have the strength to bear this loss. Legal action initiated against the ones using her picture maliciously #RIPArya."
This tweet garnered criticism from across the country, wherein people questioned how can BMC be so sure this wasn't due to AEFI, without an autopsy report or any investigation.
In a press statement issued on Monday, the Mumbai Civic body stated: "A State-Level Sub-Committee of Medical Experts, Mumbai Division was appointed as per the guidelines of Central Government for the treatment of AEFI. An urgent meeting of this committee was held on Monday, January 17, 2022. The report of this incident was presented before the committee. The committee has given a clear opinion that the death was not due to vaccination."
"The AEFI committee or state level sub committee consists of independent doctors and experts from centre, state and even from BMC opined that this death is not due to vaccine. We will take a decision on legal actions against those who posted the photos and rumour of the death caused due to vaccination in a day or two," said Suresh Kakani BMC Additional Municipal Commissioner (Health).
