SEOUL – Official reports from the government and local South Korean media (South Korea) stated that at least 13 South Koreans had died after receiving flu vaccine shots in the last few days.
Although authorities say the safety of the vaccine is not linked to the deaths of citizens after being injected with the vaccine, it raises concerns about vaccine safety.
That has not led local health authorities to plan to suspend the program of injecting the flu vaccine for free to some 19 million people. The reason is, the preliminary investigation of the six fatalities did not find a direct link to the victim’s death with the vaccine.
No toxic substances are found in vaccines. At least five of the six people investigated had conditions underlying their deaths, officials said.
Officials reported nine people died after getting the flu shot, and news agencies Yonhap reported four other people who died on Thursday (22/10) Among.
The fatalities, which consisted of a 17-year-old boy and a man in his 70s, occurred just a week after the free flu vaccination program for teenagers and the elderly had restarted.
The program was suspended for three weeks after it was discovered that some 5 million doses that should have been refrigerated had been exposed to room temperature while being transported to medical facilities.
The flu vaccine in South Korea comes from a variety of sources. South Korean flu vaccine manufacturers include local producers GC Pharma, SK Bioscience and Ilyang Pharmaceutical Co, along with French pharmaceutical companies Sanofi and Britain’s Glaxosmithkline.
South Korean flu vaccine distributors include LG Chem Ltd and Boryung Biopharma Co. Ltd., which is part of Boryung Pharm Co. Ltd.
GC Pharma, LG Chem, SK Bioscience and Boryung declined to comment about any deaths after receiving flu shots. Meanwhile, Ilyang Pharmaceutical, Sanofi and GSK could not be reached for comment.
South Korea has extended its seasonal vaccine program this year to ward off potential complications of the COVID-19 outbreak and reduce the burden on hospitals during winter.
Officials say 8.3 million people have been inoculated with the free flu vaccine since the program resumed on October 13, and there have been reports of about 350 cases of adverse reactions to the vaccine.
The highest number of deaths related to seasonal flu vaccination was six in 2005, according to news agencies Yonhap.
Officials say it is difficult to make comparisons with previous years because more people are taking the vaccine this year. (Yanurisa Ananta)
– .
