The Department of Health (DH) announced that as of 4pm today (March 19), one report was received from the Hospital Authority (HA) in the past 24 hours regarding a death case, which is a suspected serious adverse event following COVID-19 vaccination.

     According to the information provided by the HA, the case involved a 66-year-old man who had history of diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia. He was found collapsed in a car this morning and was admitted to Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital. He did not respond to resuscitation and passed away. According to information, he received a dose of Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccination at Lung Sum Avenue Sports Centre Community Vaccination Centre three days before admission (March 16) and there was no record that the man complained of feeling unwell during observation at the Vaccination Centre.

     The DH has immediately contacted the HA upon the notification to obtain further information on the incident for conducting investigation and assessment. According to the established mechanism, the DH will provide the case to the Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment Following COVID-19 Immunisation for conducting causality assessment, and the assessment result will be released in a timely manner.

     According to the World Health Organization, Adverse Events Following Immunisation refers to any untoward medical occurrence which follows immunisation and which does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the usage of the vaccine. As a whole population, people with acute medical conditions with various severities are admitted to hospitals every day. With the commencement of the vaccination programme, among those patients with acute medical conditions, there will be those that have received vaccines and reports of such cases might increase with the increasing vaccination uptakes. It is important for the surveillance system in place to monitor these adverse events following COVID-19 vaccinations and to conduct causality assessments based on a scientific and objective approach to ensure that any untoward outcome would not go unnoticed. People with chronic illness should seek medical attention if they feel unwell. They should also adhere to their treatment as prescribed by their doctors.

Ends/Friday, March 19, 2021
Issued at HKT 19:56

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