The alleged casualty, Kaila, was vaccinated along with 124 other students at Setu Vidyalaya in Viramgam. Hardik was rushed to the local government hospital on Tuesday night, where he died. A post mortem was conducted on him at Sola civil hospital on Wednesday. District health officer Neelam Patel claims that preliminary reports have suggested that the death was because of acute viral infection.
A similar panic reigned in Kheda on the same day. In the afternoon 24 children from H & D Parekh High school of Kheda town were rushed to the local government hospital after some children complained of weak health, headache, nausea, blurry vision. The resident health officer of Kheda, Dr BR Panchal told TOI, "Only two students were put under observation for suspected fever. It normally might happen in children after a vaccination depending on the immune system. Hearing about these cases, another 22 children who received the vaccination too were brought to the hospital by panic-stricken parents." He adds that close to 154 children in H&D Parekh school received the shots.
The immunization drive which started on Tuesday afternoon across schools in 16 districts in Gujarat. Till Wednesday afternoon, 25,501 children up to the age of 10 years were vaccinated under this drive. "As word spread about complications, many parents rushed their children to hospital after the vaccination drive," said a senior health official in Gandhinagar.
Worried parents have demanded the name of the company which supplied the vaccine, along with the manufacturing date and expiry dates of the vaccine. They have even questioned the storage of the vaccines, as a cold chain of anywhere between -2 to -8 degree Celcius has to be maintained. Following the panic in these two towns, the state health department has already started enquiring into the incidents and will place its observations on Thursday.