Malaysia’s adverse reactions to Covid jabs within global average, says PM’s top health aide

The Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force views seriously every reported adverse event following immunisation (Aefi) for Covid-19, Dr Jemilah Mahmood, the prime minister’s special adviser on public health, said today.

She said each Aefi is discussed in detail by the task force and the Special Committee for Ensuring Access to Covid-19 Vaccine Supply in their weekly meetings.

“We do not hide the truth – if there is something we need to tell the public, we will.

“At the moment what I can say is, we meet every week, and every single Aefi is looked at in detail. We need to be very clear that every adverse effect is monitored, and in the event of death (which) happens after vaccination, in a certain period of time, a post-mortem is required to establish the causality.

“Of course every death is very sad, but we cannot attribute that to vaccine alone,” she said in an online news conference after the virtual launch of the Virus Hunter Campaign today.

The campaign was jointly launched by US ambassador to Malaysia Brian D McFeeters.

Jemilah also said that Malaysia benchmarks its Aefi to global levels.

“What I can tell you is, our number is not any higher than other countries and it falls within the global average,” she said.

She also spoke of the importance of ensuring the safety of children by providing them with a safe environment once schools reopen.

“If they cannot receive vaccines, we have to ensure that the environment they are in is safe so they don’t catch the virus.

“This means that parents, older siblings and teachers should receive the vaccine,” she said, adding that schools must ensure that classrooms are well ventilated as a measure to prevent transmission.

She said the government is expected to come up with guidelines for the public on how to ventilate their work spaces.