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South Korea is preparing to fight two infectious diseases this winter: the new coronavirus and the flu. But reports of deaths after flu vaccination may jeopardize the second effort.
As of Friday afternoon local time, 36 people had died in Korea after receiving flu shots, including a 17-year-old high school student, Korea Biomedical Review reported. Some district and municipal governments have submitted requests to hospitals to suspend flu vaccination, but the Korea Disease Prevention and Control Agency (KDCA) still wants the national program to move forward, disproving a link between vaccines and deaths. .
“The number of deaths has risen, but our team sees the low possibility that the deaths are the result of the shooting,” KDCA Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong told lawmakers at a hearing on Thursday, according to Reuters. Health Minister Park Neung-hoo promised to “thoroughly examine the entire process involving various government agencies, from production to distribution.”
Products from at least seven companies were reportedly linked to the deaths, including France-based Sanofi and six national companies: SK Bioscience, Shinsung Pharm, Korea Vaccine, GC Pharma, Boryung Biopharma and LG Chem. Sanofi did not respond in response to immediate to a request for comment.
The first reported death, of the 17-year-old high school student, came two days after Shinsung was shot. KDCA said Friday that the death was not related to vaccination, citing the result of an autopsy, according to the Korea Biomedical Review.
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In September, before the deaths began, the KDCA temporarily halted its free national flu vaccination program, citing cold chain problems. It turns out that a batch of Shinsung vaccines were left at room temperature during transport when they should have been refrigerated. A recall followed, but about 2,300 doses had already been administered, according to The New York Times. High temperatures would make a flu vaccine ineffective but probably non-toxic.
Earlier this month, Korea Vaccine recalled another 615,000 doses of flu vaccines after white particles were found in the vaccines, although the substances were later labeled harmless, The Korea Times reported.
Most of the deaths occurred in older people, who are covered by the country’s free vaccination scheme. KDCA said Thursday that at least seven of the nine people it investigated had underlying health problems, according to Reuters.
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Korean health authorities maintain that their investigations found that the deaths were not related to vaccines. “The vaccine products administered to the deceased were all different and they did not receive the drug at the same medical institution,” Jung said, quoted by Korea Biomedical Review. “The possibility of a link between deaths and vaccines is low, and we are cautious about stopping the flu vaccine project.”
So far, that kind of security has done little to allay concerns. The Korean Medical Association, an influential doctors’ organization, as well as the opposition People’s Power Party, have urged the government to halt the flu vaccination program for at least a week to further investigate the incidents.
