Govt to seek AstraZeneca explanation on Covid vaccine side effects

 

The Health Ministry will seek clarification from AstraZeneca on the side effects of its Covid-19 vaccine as reported by international media recently.

Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said the pharmaceutical company should be responsible by submitting a thorough and transparent explanation to Malaysia and the world.

“We ask AstraZeneca representatives to give a more thorough explanation… and I would prefer to be more transparent to all the people and media,” he said at a health screening programme at Kampung Orang Asli Tun Abdul Razak in Hulu Selangor today.

“They must be responsible… there is nothing for us to hide, and same with them.”

Recently, UK portal The Telegraph reported that AstraZeneca admitted in a court document that its Covid vaccine can cause Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) in very rare cases.

TTS causes people to have blood clots and a low blood platelet count.

Dzulkefly called for an explanation to avoid public concern among vaccine recipients, adding that this is despite the risk rate reportedly being 0.88 out of a million doses administered.

He said his ministry will continue to monitor and deal with the matter based on evidence of symptoms, with clinical guidelines to treat affected individuals.

Hospital overcrowding

Meanwhile, to overcome overcrowding at Selayang Hospital in Selangor, Dzulkefly said an emergency medicine specialist will be placed at the Kuala Kubu Bharu (KKB) Hospital this month.

This is in addition to an internal medicine specialist who has been stationed permanently there since January.

“I found that today, the increase (of patients at KKB Hospital) is more than the pre-Covid-19 pandemic time, which means people here have confidence that this hospital has the specialists and they do not need to travel 45km back and forth to get treatment at Selayang Hospital.

“I will continue to make improvements to the KKB Hospital, and I want to stress that this is not being done due to the by-election but has been planned.”

- Bernama