ROME (Reuters) – Prosecutors in the northern Piedmont region said Monday they had confiscated a batch of 393,600 shots from the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after a man died a few hours after having received a punch.
The move once again represents the image of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Italy and will further complicate the government’s coronavirus inoculation campaign.
On Sunday, the Piedmont regional government suspended the use of the lot, ABV5811, after Sandro Tognatti, a 57-year-old music teacher, fell ill and died in circumstances that have not yet been clarified.
Sicilian magistrates ordered the confiscation of a separate batch of AstraZeneca vaccine last week after the sudden death of two recently inoculated men.
The Italian government has said there is no evidence of a connection between the deaths and the beatings and has allowed the AstraZeneca vaccine to continue to be administered.
By contrast, Ireland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland have suspended the use of the vaccine after clotting problems, some of them fatal, in people who had used it.
Tognatti was shot on Saturday afternoon, his wife told Italian newspapers. He developed a high temperature during the night and became ill again on Sunday morning. An ambulance was called, but he died shortly afterwards.
“Therefore, it is important to ensure that the continued administration of the drug throughout the country does not lead to additional consequences (harmful or fatal) … until we are completely sure that the death (of Tognatti) cannot be attributed to the aforementioned inoculation, ”said prosecutor Teresa Angela Camelio in a statement.
Report by Emilio Parodi and Angelo Amante, written by Gavin Jones and Crispian Balmer; edited by Philippa Fletcher