3 MORE PEOPLE DIE AFTER RECEIVING SHOTS

[Anchor Lead]

Three more people have died after getting vaccinated for COVID-19. All three were patients at convalescent hospitals. Health authorities and local governments are looking into a possible link between the deaths and the inoculations.

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A man in his 50s who was hospitalized at a nursing hospital in Jeonju, Jeollabukdo Province.. received a COVID-19 shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine at around 9 a.m. Tuesday. He died about 41 hours later at 2 a.m. on Thursday. Another man, also in his 50s who received his jab at 11 a.m. on Wednesday also died some 15 hours later.
A younger person in her 20s has also died after vaccination. The woman was a patient at a convalescent hospital in Daejeon. She was vaccinated Tuesday morning and died 42 hours later early Thursday. They all had underlying diseases and whether the deaths were caused by the vaccination has not been confirmed yet. One case of anaphylactoid reaction has also been reported. A woman in her 50s, also a resident at a nursing facility, experienced difficulty breathing 10 minutes after getting vaccinated. She took medication and recovered from the symptom without going through any other particular treatments. Regarding the two deaths confirmed Wednesday, authorities explained there were no issues with the preliminary medical examination and that both were in physical conditions that allowed them to receive the shots. Health officials, along with local governments, are looking into whether or not the deaths have a causal relationship with the vaccinations.

[Soundbite] Kwon Jun-wook(Central Disease Control HQs) : "Unusual reactions and deaths are not cases of mere accidents but are dealt with in the realm of medicine and science. An expert analysis is currently under way results, as soon as they come out, will be transparently disclosed."

Meanwhile South Korea’s vaccine roll-out is further gaining speed. AstraZeneca vaccinations have also begun at general hospitals as well as nursing homes. At Seoul National University Hospital, the hospital director was the first to be vaccinated.

[Soundbite] Kim Yon-su(President & CEO, SNU Hospital) : "Vaccines developed have all been proven so I hope the Korean public will get their shots in due order whatever the type of vaccine may be."

Asan Medical Center will begin vaccinations on Friday while Severance Hospital and Samsung Medical Center will start theirs next week. 88% of medical staff working at hospitals including the larger general hospitals have consented to receiving a jab.