Report confirms vaccine not the cause of Revnesh's death

 

A preliminary post-mortem report has confirmed that the death of teenager Revnesh Kumar was unrelated to the Covid-19 vaccine he received 18 days prior.

Speaking to Free Malaysia Today (FMT), Revnesh’s mother, G Vijayarani, said the report instead classified it as sudden death.

“The report states that Revnesh died a sudden death as test results showed that his organs were all healthy and his body was not affected by the vaccine,” she was quoted as saying.

Vijayarani said that the doctors had told Revnesh’s family that the autopsy report would take another week to complete and the full medical report much later.

The family went to Kajang Hospital at 4pm today to receive the report from Serdang Hospital forensic pathologist Dr Emizam Mohamadon.

Also present was Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s press secretary Raja Syahrir Raja Abu Bakar.

Earlier today, Khairy said the Health Ministry would hand over the report on Revnesh’s death to his parents

He said a panel of forensic experts have reviewed the findings of the report during a day-long peer-review session yesterday.

“They have issued a consensus opinion, and the report will be handled to Ravesh’s parents, Mr Nareshkumar and his wife, at 2.30pm today,” he said, speaking at a press conference in the Parliament building.

Khairy said the review was led by MOH’s forensics services chief Dr Zahari Noor, alongside forensic department heads from various public hospitals. It was conducted from 9am to 5pm yesterday.

He did not reply to a question on the report’s findings. MOH’s rules on patient privacy would mean it needs permission from Revnesh’s next-of-kin to make the findings public.

Delay due to extensive testing

The 13-year-old Revnesh reportedly collapsed and died suddenly in an elevator on Jan 16, which was 18 days after receiving the first dose of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine on Dec 30.

Following the death, his parents have complained about the long wait to get an official explanation about the cause of death. In a video that has gone viral, they also urged other parents to reconsider getting their children vaccinated.

During a March 3 press conference, Khairy had explained that the delay was due to the need for extensive testing, because the ministry wanted a thorough investigation and not just a post-mortem report.

He met the parents L Naresh Kumar and G Vijayarani on the following day regarding the status of the investigation and the ministry’s next steps.

According to a statement from the ministry at the time, the parents understood and agreed with the measures being taken.

According to the health news portal CodeBlue on March 5, however, the parents said they were unhappy with MOH’s failure to identify the cause of death.

Nevertheless, they reportedly said they were willing to wait for the outcome of the peer-review session, which was then scheduled to be held on March 7.

Vijayarani said the family would wait for the full autopsy report before deciding their next course of action.

"Khairy assured us during the meeting that if we wished to have a second opinion, we could do so, and he would be happy to assist," she added.

FMT reported that Revnesh's parents, alongside several non-governmental organisations, gathered outside the Health Ministry building in Putrajaya today, demanding transparency during investigations into his death. - Mkini