SEOUL (Reuters) – Five people have died in South Korea after a flu shot last week, officials said, adding that the seasonal inoculation program has been stepped up to address potential COVID-19 complications, raising concerns about vaccine safety.
Officials said there was no reason to believe the death was linked to the vaccine but an investigation, including an autopsy, was ongoing.
“It makes it difficult for us to make a clear statement,” said Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-hote at a briefing on the death on Wednesday, which included a 70-year-old 17-year-old boy and a man.
Just weeks after the rollout of the national vaccine program was postponed due to safety concerns, the deaths are dominated by major headlines in South Korea.
Officials last month announced plans to take 20% more flu vaccines for the winter than last year to inoculate 30 million people to prevent overheating of the health system by patients with the flu and COVID-19 exposure.
However, the launch of the free job program for about 19 million eligible people was postponed for three weeks, when it was found that about 5 million doses, which need to be refrigerated, were exposed to room temperature while transporting to a medical facility.
Raising public confidence in vaccines has become a major global challenge this year, as some countries rush to approve experimental COVID-19 vaccines before a full safety and efficacy study is completed.
The South Korean flu vaccine is supplied by various drug manufacturers, including LG Chem Limited 051910.KS Boring Biopharma Co. Ltd., Boring Firm Co. Ltd.’s unit. 003850.KS. A Borough official told Reuters the company was aware of the reported deaths, but did not immediately comment. LG Cam said the company would follow the government’s advice.
The 17-year-old boy who died on Friday was the first death reported by authorities after being vaccinated. The boy died two days after receiving a flu shot in Incheon, near the capital Seoul.
A man in his 70s with Parkinson’s disease and arrhythmia was the most recent case. He died in Daigu on Wednesday, a day after receiving the flu vaccine. Daegu officials said the man had been vaccinated since 2015 and had no previous adverse reactions.
Since the resumption on October 13, 8.3 million people have been vaccinated against the flu, with about 350 cases of adverse reactions reported, officials said. In 2005, according to the Yonihapp News Agency, seasonal flu vaccinations were the leading cause of death.
Even before the coronavirus epidemic, trust in vaccines was a growing challenge for public health organizations. Vaccine reluctance has been named by the World Health Organization as one of last year’s top 10 global health risks.
In South Korea, a poll earlier this month found that 62% of the 2,548 respondents in Gyeonggi Province, near Seoul, would not vaccinate against Covid-19 until all safety questions were fully answered. Until.
Reporting by Sangami Tea; Edited by Myong Kim and Jane Verdale
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