A 40-year-old volunteer rescuer in Ratchaburi has died after receiving a third shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Prasong Boonkhian, a rescuer of the Pathom Borom Rachanusorn Foundation, on Saturday was found dead by his 64-year-old mother, Noi Boonkhian, in his room in Muang district at 2am. His body was sent for a post-mortem examination at Ratchaburi Hospital.
The man received his third booster shot at the hospital on Friday at 4.17pm.
Somkuan Boonkhian, Prasong's 43-year-old brother, said he was healthy and rarely fell ill.
After his vaccination, his brother began coughing at midnight. He complained from his room: "I am sure to die tonight".
As the light of his room was still on, his mother entered at 2am and found him dead beside his bed, Mr Somkuan said.
The mother, Ms Noi, said she warned her son against getting a third shot of the vaccine, but the foundation had already put his name on the list.
"I want to seek justice for my family. My son was healthy and I never thought he would die because of this.
"He relished helping people and would always go to offer assistance whenever an accident occurred," she said.
"The family is gathering evidence to submit to state agencies to help establish the cause. I won't let other families experience the same tragedy," Ms Noi said.
Last Saturday, Disease Control Department director-general Opas Karnkawinpong said Thailand has administered 40 million doses of vaccines, of which 628 recipients had died.
Only one case was found to be directly related to the vaccine, with the patient succumbing to thrombosis and thrombocytopenia.
Experts believed the deaths of 249 recipients were not associated with the vaccine but from other factors -- such as a nervous system infection, severe pneumonia, septicaemia, abdominal bleeding and poisonous mushrooms.
The experts said they could not conclude the cause of death in 32 other cases.
"As only one case from 40 million recipients has been linked to the vaccine, it shows the vaccine is safe and offers more benefits than potential side effects," Dr Opas said.