Nearly 400,000 AstraZeneca Vaccine Doses Seized in Italy After Teacher’s Death

A member of medical staff shows the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at the vaccinodrome set up in the Velodrome stadium in Marseille, France, on on March 15, 2021. Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images

Italian prosecutors said on March 15 they seized a batch of nearly 400,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after a man died hours after receiving the shot.

Piedmont’s regional government told Reuters it suspended the use of AstraZeneca batch ABV5811 after a 57-year-old man identified as Sandro Tognatti fell ill and died. The cause of death and other circumstances surrounding his death are not clear.