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Deaths after flu vaccination continue to rise in South Korea. But as local health authorities work to calm concerned citizens by disproving a connection between the two, one Asian country has taken the precautionary measure of suspending two injections given to people who later died.
Singapore has temporarily withdrawn its support for SK Bioscience’s SKYCellflu Quadrivalent and Sanofi Pasteur’s VaxigripTetra, the Health Ministry said on Sunday. Among the seven brands administered to people who died in South Korea, these two are the only ones also available in Singapore.
Healthcare providers can still use two other flu vaccines sold in Singapore, and the agency said it will continue to monitor the situation and stay in contact with South Korean authorities.
As of Monday, at least 59 people, most in their 70s and 80s, had died in South Korea after flu vaccination, up from 46 on Saturday. That’s among more than 14.7 million people who have been vaccinated this season.
Last year, more than 1,500 older people died within seven days of receiving the flu vaccine, deaths that were not related to immunization, the government said, according to Reuters. Seniors and young children in South Korea are eligible for free vaccinations under a national schedule.
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The Korea Disease Prevention and Control Agency (KDAC) said Thursday that it had found no link between the deaths and flu shots, and called on citizens to continue vaccinations.
In a statement to Fierce Pharma on Monday, a Sanofi spokesperson noted the KDCA investigation and emphasized that the agency’s investigation has not confirmed any link between the vaccines and the deaths.
Korean officials are also trying to persuade an increasingly anxious public that vaccines are safe and that the benefits of vaccination far outweigh any side effects.
“Please be confident in the conclusion of the health authorities … reached after an expert review,” President Moon Jae-in said at a meeting, quoted by Reuters. “There is a need to expand influenza vaccination this year not only to prevent influenza, but also to prevent the concurrent infection and spread of influenza and COVID-19.”
Aside from some normally mild side effects, such as injection site reactions, flu vaccines can cause dangerous allergic shock in some people. But as is the case with a person who is allergic to peanuts and accidentally eats one, these allergic reactions to vaccines happen in minutes. No such case has been reported in South Korea, the local government said, according to Reuters.
