The SUN HK : Study concludes: Covid-19 vaccines are safe

Vaccination against Covid-19 is safe, says independent study.

If there is still any doubt that the Covid-19 vaccines administered I Hong Kong is safe, the final report of the Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment Following Immunisation (AEFIs) agaijnst COVID-19 should lay it to rest.

The3 committee has found that of the 20.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered to 6.9 million people in Hong Kong, not one could be linked to the 120 deaths reported within 14 days after vaccnation.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

The committee, set up under the Department of Health (DH) to independently assess the potential causal link between Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFIs) and COVID-19 vaccination in Hong Kong, revealed its findings in a meeting convened today (Feb. 27).

The World Health Organization defines AEFI as any medical occurrence that follows immunization and that does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the usage of the vaccine.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

The DH has put in place a pharmacovigilance system for COVID-19 immunisation, and is partnering with the University of Hong Kong (HKU) to conduct an active surveillance program for Adverse Events of Special Interest (AESI) under the COVID-19 Vaccines Adverse Events Response and Evaluation Programme (CARE Programme). The main purpose of the pharmacovigilance system is to detect potential signals of possible side effects of the vaccines.

The committee reported that as of February 26, about 20.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in Hong Kong. Around 6.9 million people had received at least one vaccine dose, it added.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

In the same period, the DH received 8,102 reports of adverse events (0.04 per cent of total vaccine doses administered), including 120 deaths within 14 days after vaccination (0.0006 per cent of total doses).

In its report, the Expert Committee found that of these 120 death cases, 117 death cases had no causal relationship with vaccination, two cases had causal relationship with vaccination that could not be established, and one case preliminarily considered as not associated with vaccination.

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The committee cited the case of an 83-year-old man who died five days after receiving the first dose of CoronaVac vaccine in May 2022. Preliminary autopsy revealed ischaemic heart disease. In the final autopsy report, the cause of death appears to be acute myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart tissue called myocardium which affects the heart's electrical system and leads to irregular heart beats.

Investigations could not identify the cause of the myocarditis. Research has not found any evidence that the vaccination could cause acute myocarditis. Studies conducted by HKU under the CARE Program also did not find any association between CoronaVac vaccination and myocarditis.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

The Committee has also reviewed available clinical data and information for conducting causality assessment of other serious or unexpected AEFIs and AESIs. The results will be included in the updated safety monitoring report (as at February 28) to be published at the Government's designated website on March 3.

In addition, information related to AEFIs of COVID-19 vaccines and relevant statistics will also be released in the "Update on monitoring COVID-19 vaccination" press release and the Government's website regularly, it added.