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Fake News! Penang Nurse Did Not Die From COVID-19 Vaccine, Say Health Officials
If you read with alarm reports by a Malay daily on how a nurse died recently after getting the COVID-19 vaccine, don't panic.
They got their facts wrong.
The Penang Health Department has come forward to clarify that the nurse's death had nothing to do with the vaccine.
In a statement, the department said that the 45-year-old nurse served at the Penang Hospital and had received the COVID-19 (Cominarty) vaccine on 12 March.
"She did not have any contraindications and post-vaccination observation at the Vaccine Administration Centre (VAC) showed that she was stable.
"The nurse only complained of numbness at the injection point on her left hand, but she was able to work as usual according to the shift at the hospital," the statement read.
Existing health issues
The state health department went on to say that the nurse, who has a comorbidity for high blood pressure, later complained to her husband that she had breathing problems on 16 March but did not seek medical treatment nor report it to the authorities.
(In case you didn't know, comorbidity describes two or more disorders or illnesses occuring in the same person. According to WebMD, the disorders or illnesses can occur at the same time or one after the other.)
"At midnight on 17 March, her husband found her unconscious and contacted the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital, Sungai Petani.
"She was pronounced dead at the hospital. The autopsy results showed the cause of death was due to a heart attack and no signs of anaphylaxis or allergic reactions."Therefore this death was not related to COVID-19 vaccination," they explained.
The bottom line is that the viral news report claiming that the nurse died because of the COVID-19 vaccine is false.
Minister to iron out matter with editor
Additionally, Minister of Science, Technology & Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin who is also the Coordinating Minister for COVID-19 Immunisation said that he would speak to the editor of the daily pertaining to the report.
Headline ini sangat tidak bertanggungjawab dan telah memberi kesan yang negatif terhadap pelaksanaan PICK. Saya akan panggil editor @hmetromy hari ini tetapi damage is done berdasarkan komen2 di FB dll. Thanks for nothing @hmetromy. https://t.co/uyj70i0NQs— Khairy Jamaluddin ??? (@Khairykj) March 19, 2021
"This headline is highly irresponsible and has had a negative impact on the implementation of Program Imunisasi COVID-19 Kebangsaan (PICK).
"I will call the editor from @hmetromy today but the damage has been done based on the comments from Facebook and others. Thanks for nothing @hmetromy," Khairy tweeted.
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