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SEOUL (Oct 21): Five people died after receiving flu shots in South Korea last week, authorities said, raising concerns about the vaccine’s safety just as the seasonal inoculation program is expanded to prevent possible complications of Covid-19.
Authorities said there was no reason to believe the deaths were related to the vaccine, but an investigation was underway, including autopsies.
“We are finding it difficult to issue a categorical statement,” Deputy Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said Wednesday at a briefing on the deaths, which include a 17-year-old boy and a 70-year-old man.
Just weeks after the launch of the national vaccine program was suspended over safety concerns, the deaths have dominated the headlines in South Korea.
Last month, officials announced plans to purchase 20% more flu vaccines for the winter than the previous year to inoculate 30 million people in a bid to prevent the healthcare system from being overloaded with flu patients and exposure to Covid-19.
However, the start of a free jab program for around 19 million eligible people was suspended for three weeks after it was discovered that about five million doses, which must be refrigerated, had been exposed to room temperature while being transported to a medical center.
Building public confidence in vaccines has become a major global challenge this year as some countries rush to approve experimental Covid-19 vaccines before all safety and efficacy studies have been completed.
South Korea’s flu vaccines are supplied by different drug manufacturers, including LG Chem Ltd and Boryung Biopharma Co Ltd, a unit of Boryung Pharm Co Ltd., said a Boryung official. Reuters the company was aware of the reported deaths but did not immediately comment. LG Chem said the company would follow the government’s advice.
A 17-year-old boy who died on Friday was the first death noted by authorities after receiving the vaccine. The boy died two days after receiving the flu vaccine in Incheon, near the capital, Seoul.
A man in his 70s, who had Parkinson’s disease and arrhythmia, was the most recent case. He died in Daegu on Wednesday, a day after receiving the flu shot. Daegu officials said the man had received vaccinations since 2015 with no prior adverse reactions.
Officials said 8.3 million people have been inoculated with the free flu vaccine since it was resumed on Oct. 13, and about 350 cases of adverse reactions were reported. The highest number of deaths related to seasonal influenza vaccination was six in 2005, according to the Yonhap news agency.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, reliance on vaccines was a growing challenge for public health agencies. The World Health Organization (WHO) named vaccine hesitancy one of the top 10 threats to global health last year.
In South Korea, a survey earlier this month found that 62% of 2,548 respondents in Gyeonggi province, near Seoul, would not get vaccinated against Covid-19, even if a vaccine is approved, until all security questions are fully answered.
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