Health Ministry: 42 'serious' AEFI reports out of 60 million shots given

COVID-19 | Of the over 60 million Covid-19 vaccine doses administered to the public, the Health Ministry says it has received 24,286 reports of adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) as of Jan 15.

This represents 0.4 AEFI reports for every 1,000 vaccine doses administered.

In a press conference this evening, Health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said a bulk of these reports were not serious.

“Most reported AEFI cases are of minimal side effects,” he said.

Of the 24,286 reports, he said those identified as “serious” amounted to 42 cases.

This represents 0.05 reports of serious AEFI cases for every 1,000 vaccine doses administered.

Meanwhile, of the 9.2 million booster doses administered to the public, Noor Hisham said the ministry received 839 AEFI reports.

This represents 0.1 AEFI reports for every 1,000 booster vaccine doses administered.

During the press conference, he also shared reports of children experiencing inflammation of the heart muscles (myocarditis) following Covid-19 vaccination numbered between one to three children for every 100,000 doses administered.

Kajang prison cases

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin explained that the ministry took the AEFI reports seriously.

“Investigations begin with the pharmacovigilant committee before going through two other committees.

“It also involves post-mortem or clinical opinions by hospitals before we can conclude if the effects were due to vaccination or not,” he said.

Meanwhile, Noor Hisham provided an update on the ministry’s investigations into the 18 AEFI reports among detainees at the Kajang prison.

Of the 18 cases, the ministry found that three detainees suffered adverse effects “possibly” due to the Covid-19 vaccine.

“There is yet to be clear and solid evidence on this to confirm or completely rule out the possibility that the adverse effects experienced were due to the vaccine,” he said.

Of the remaining 15 reports, the ministry concluded that 10 were not caused by the vaccine.

Five more reports, which include two deaths, continued to be under investigation. - Mkini