Seven months after the death of Padmashri actor Vivek, it has now been confirmed that his untimely demise was in no way related to the Covid-19 vaccine. His demise has shocked the cinema fans and fraternities across and beyond the borders. It has stirred scepticism over the Covid-19 vaccine as the actor has passed away in two days after receiving the vaccine in Chennai.

The notion that Vivek had died due to the vaccine had sparked more hesitancy among the people to get vaccinated. The hesitancy remained despite the Tamil Nadu Health Department affirming that his death was not due to the vaccine. Vivek had passed away on April 17, 2021, at 59 and seven months after his demise, the Immunization Division of the Union Health Ministry has found that the actor's death was not related to vaccination.

According to reports, the National Committee on Serious Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) has, in its report dated September 14, 2021, has said that Vivek's death was coincidental and not related to the Covaxin shot that he had received on April 15, 2021. The committee has revealed that the official medical reason for the actor's death was 'Acute myocardial infarction with cardiogenic shock with ventricular fibrillation in a known case of hypertension'.

As per the reason, the committee said that it has found that Vivek had suffered a cardiac arrest due to the underlying condition of hypertension. The committee has also said that the benefits of vaccination are overwhelmingly greater than the small risk of harm. The AEFI has categorized Vivek's death as 'C'- refers to coincidental, underlying or emerging conditions, or conditions caused by exposure to something other than the vaccine.

It has been reported that the AEFI Committee report is final and it has brought relief to the government's vaccination campaign that the vaccine shot wasn't the reason for Vivek's death. The final report is also expected to give a push to the vaccination drive by mitigating the hesitancy to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. Actor Vivek, with the view of creating awareness about vaccination, had received the first shot of Covaxin on April 15, 2021, at Omandurar Government Hospital in Chennai. He had appealed to the people to get administered with the vaccine.

However, he had developed health complications the next day and was admitted to SIMS Hospital in Vadapalani, Chennai. Despite the treatments, he had passed away on April 17, 2021, at the age of 59, following a cardiac arrest. The doctors who treated Vivek has said that the actor had a 100% blockage in the left anterior descending artery vessel due to which he had suffered a cardiac arrest. The Tamil Nadu government had also denied the notion that the actor had died due to the Covid-19 vaccine as Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan had affirmed that the cause of the cardiac arrest was not due to the Covid-19 vaccine.