Nurse dies in Georgia after vaccination with AstraZeneca

Nurse dies after receiving Covid vaccine

27-year-old Georgian nurse Megi Bakradze died earlier today after being vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine in the city Akhaltsikhe.

Half an hour after receiving the injection on March 18, she went into anaphylactic shock and fell into a coma.

She was transported to Tbilisi but doctors were unable to save her.

Relatives of Megi Bakradze claim that she had no concomitant diseases.

The incident has caused a partial suspension of vaccination in the high mountainous part of the Adjara region. In the rest of the country, the process continues as planned.

“The death of Megi Bakradze was most likely as a result of a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine, but this is a very rare side effect,” says Levan Ratiani, director of the First University Hospital in Tbilisi.

The final conclusions about the cause of death will be made after an investigation.

Vaccination in Georgia started on March 15, when the first batch, 43,200 doses, of AstraZeneca vaccine was received through the international COVAX platform. The vaccine manufacturer is South Korean company AstraZeneca-SKBio.

The death of Megi Bakradze has shocked many. Before the unfortunate event, there were many doubts amongst the public about whether to get vaccinated. Now many more people say they don’t trust the vaccine.

According to various surveys, approximately 41 percent of respondents said they would not be vaccinated.

At the Ministry of Health, a meeting was held with leading experts in immunology, at which it was discussed whether to suspend vaccination with AstraZeneka. It was decided to continue the process, but now additional safety measures are envisaged: vaccination will be carried out only in those medical institutions where there are intensive care units.

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Georgian society is actively discussing how safe the AstraZeneca vaccine from the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company really is. One of the arguments of opponents of vaccination is the decision of many European countries to suspend the use of this drug.

The reason for the suspension of vaccinations in Europe was the development of thrombosis in several patients, rather than anaphylactic shock. Since March 19, vaccination has resumed in most European countries – after the European Medicines Agency, one of the most authoritative organizations in the world, did not establish a link between vaccination and thromboembolic events.

If the vaccine is safe, why can it cause an allergic reaction?

It has not yet been officially confirmed that anaphylactic shock was the cause of Megi Bakradze’s death. However, several of these extraordinary tragic events occurred in different countries of the world, but nowhere did they stop the vaccination process.

Anaphylaxis is an acute allergic reaction of the body that does not depend on the dose of the allergen. Anaphylactic shock can occur with medication, including antibiotics, or food, or a bee sting.

Doctors say that this is a rare reaction of the body and it is almost impossible to foresee it.

Radio Liberty has collected the data known at this time on anaphylactic shock as a consequence of vaccination:

• In the UK, of the five million people vaccinated with AstraZeneca, 41 have been diagnosed with anaphylactic shock. That is one case in 122,000.
• 63 cases were registered in Germany out of 5,387,000 people vaccinated with the Pfizer-Biontec vaccine.

One of the main questions that the investigation in Georgia must answer is whether the clinic in Akhaltsikhe was ready for such a reaction and was Megi Bakradze provided with timely medical assistance?

Megi Bakradze was vaccinated on March 18 at about 12:15. A couple of minutes after that, she gave an interview to local media, which can be seen in the video below. “Vaccinations are needed,” she said. – We are powerless against the virus, and therefore we must be vaccinated in order to avoid illness or not get sick in severe form. Although people are scared, there is nothing dangerous about getting vaccinated. I urge everyone to get vaccinated “