AT least two patients in South Korean hospitals died today after receiving the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, according to local media, reported Anadolu Agency.

The first patient who was under treatment in a hospital in Goyang, just outside of the capital Seoul’s northwestern border, was vaccinated yesterday, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Admitted to the hospital for heart and diabetes problems after the vaccination, the patient began to show symptoms of heart failure and had difficulty breathing by the afternoon but recovered under emergency care. The symptoms, however, returned this morning, the report said.

The second fatality, a 63-year-old patient in Pyeongtaek, near Seoul, died this morning, four days after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, the agency quoted health officials as saying.

The man with the cerebrovascular disease had shown symptoms, such as high fever and severe pain, since the day of vaccination on Saturday. He was admitted to hospital yesterday after his condition worsened.

Local health officials said they have yet to determine whether the patient suffered side effects from the vaccine.

The country started administering the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday.

South Korea reported 444 more coronavirus infections today, raising its caseload to 90,816 while 1,612 people died from the disease, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University. – Bernama, March 3, 2021.