Air Force officer dead after taking 2nd dose of AstraZeneca vaccine

An Air Force non-commissioned officer has died after receiving a second dose of AstraZeneca vaccine, military officials said Friday.

According to the officials, the senior master sergeant based in Gimhae, 450 kilometers south of Seoul, got the second jab of the vaccine on May 24, and became brain dead a week later. The officer died Thursday.

This is the first death of a soldier following vaccination. It wasn't immediately clear if the death is directly related to the vaccine.

The surviving family didn't want an autopsy on the late officer, a military official said.

Most soldiers in their 30s have received first doses of AstraZeneca vaccines but the deceased officer got the second jab earlier than others in order to join the Red Flag multinational air exercise, set to take place in Alaska later this month. (Yonhap)