AEFI report on AstraZeneca vaccine out this week

PUTRAJAYA: Data on the AstraZeneca vaccine’s adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) will be released this week, says Deputy Health Minister Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni.

Insights about the data, he said, as well as AstraZeneca’s clarification would be revealed by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.

“The government has the data and we will announce it as it is important to the public.

“We will explain the data concerning adverse side effects, the issues and also the clarification from AstraZeneca,” he said after attending the International Nurses Day celebration here yesterday.

Lukanisman said Health director-general Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan would also address issues about the adverse events, along with the number of those affected.

Earlier this month, Dzulkefly sought clarification from AstraZeneca about the adverse events after the pharmaceutical company admitted in court documents that the vaccine could cause, in very rare cases, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).

This syndrome is when the individuals have blood clots together with a low platelet count.

AstraZeneca had recently withdrawn its Covid-19 vaccines worldwide.

Dzulkefly had asked the pharmaceutical company to submit a thorough and transparent explanation not only to Malaysia but to the whole world.

Meanwhile, Lukanisman said the Health Ministry’s facilities are prepared to treat those experiencing adverse events from the vaccine.

Checks with the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency found that the last AEFI summary report on all vaccinations was on Nov 30 last year.

The report said it received 26 serious adverse effects reports out of a million doses.

Thus far in Malaysia, no data on the total number of TTS cases caused by the AstraZeneca vaccine has been reported, while Indonesia said that no TTS cases associated with the vaccine were reported.

Separately, Lukanisman said the national nursing workforce numbers 139,000, with 75,000 of these nurses under the Health Ministry while the rest were in the private sector.

When asked about hiring foreign nurses, Lukanisman said such nurses had been hired since last year, and the hiring window was expected to last till October this year.

“The recruitment process is very stringent because we don’t want to hire unqualified nurses,” he said.

The ministry’s nursing director, Devi K. Saravana Muthu, said that so far, 101 foreign nurses had been employed in the private sector.

“These nurses are coming from India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Indonesia. They will be undergoing stringent screening,” she said.