The Ministry of Health (MOH) has clarified on Monday (24 May) that the 57-year-old man who died a day after he took his COVID-19 shot was due to a heart attack, and not linked to the vaccine itself.
The Straits Times (ST) reported that MOH was told by the National University Hospital (NUH) on 8 March that a Singaporean man, who had been treated at the hospital’s emergency medicine department on 6 March, has passed away.
The man received his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on 5 March.
“Based on the assessment by an independent clinical panel, there is no indication that the death was due to COVID-19 vaccination,” said the Ministry.
MOH stated that the actual cause of death was a heart attack, adding that the Singaporean man had a history of hypertension and diabetes.
The Ministry explained that trained healthcare personnel assessed him to be suitable for vaccination, and he was also observed on-site for about 30 minutes after getting the jab before being sent home.
“We offer our sincere condolences to the family during this time,” said MOH.
The Ministry went on to say that to date, there has not been any deaths in the country that were caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.
Earlier on Sunday (23 May), TODAY reported that the elderly Singaporean man, named Yak Hock Hwa, collapsed on the evening of 6 March.
NUH said to the online news outlet that the man’s health deteriorated rapidly, adding that he did not respond to resuscitation efforts.
His family also told TODAY that he had no history of health problems, and hoped the authorities can explain further on how they assessed that his death was not due to the vaccine.
Additionally, they are also hoping to get compensation from the Vaccine Injury Financial Assistance Programme, which is a one-time goodwill payout to those who suffer from serious side effects linked to the vaccine.
TODAY also noted that the deceased’s family refused to do an autopsy into his death as the NUH doctors were confident that the man died because of a heart attack. The man’s daughter had also requested that an autopsy to not be done on her father.
Netizens remain sceptical over MOH’s clarification
Upon reading MOH’s respond over this issue, online users have voiced their doubts, noting that just because it is not known how the man got a heart attack, it does not mean the vaccine didn’t trigger it.
Penning their thoughts in the Facebook page of ST, some said that no government in this world has ever admitted that the vaccine has caused death, adding that Singaporeans will just have to blindly believe whatever the Government says.
Others pointed out that the coincidence of the man getting a heart attack after receiving his COVID-19 vaccine shot is something that should be looked into. They argued that the man might not have gotten a heart attack if he didn’t take the vaccine in the first place.
One user pointed out that the right thing for MOH to do is to investigate what caused the man to have a heart attack, instead of informing the public that he died due to a heart attack and not because of the vaccine.
A number of them asserted that the Government will never admit that the COVID-19 vaccines might have led to death. They wondered how is it going to proof to the public that the vaccine did not in any way caused the man to get a heart attack.
