This March 19, 2022 photo shows a man receiving a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID 19 coronavirus vaccine at a community vaccination center in Kowloon Mosque And Islamic Centre in Hong Kong. KIN CHEUNG AP HONG KONG An expert committee formed by the Hong Kong government to assess post-inoculation clinical events has stressed that there is no evidence that COVID 19 vaccination increases the risk of death for recipients.
The Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment Following COVID- 19 Immunization said on Wednesday that there was no unusual pattern identified so far, and that it will continue to monitor the situation and collect data for assessment.
The committee has so far evaluated 120 death cases and concluded that 115 death cases had no causal relationship with vaccination, according to a government news release.
It preliminarily considered that three cases were not associated with vaccination, while the causal relationship of one case with vaccination could not be established. One case is pending further information for an assessment.
The committee was set up to provide an independent assessment of the potential causal link between Adverse Events Following Immunization AEFIs and COVID 19 vaccination in Hong Kong. The purpose of the meeting was to assess serious adverse events relating to COVID 19 vaccination.
As of Nov 30, 1,055, 730 cases tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus by nucleic acid tests and 1,072, 652 through rapid antigen tests in Hong Kong, the government statement said. 10,762 people died of the infection.
Around 19.98 million doses of COVID 19 vaccine had been administered in the city and around 6.9 million people had received at least one vaccine dose.
The Department of Health received 8,050 reports of adverse events in the same period, a 0.04 percent of total vaccine doses administered, including 120 death cases with vaccination within 14 days before they passed away 0.0006 percent of total vaccine doses administered.
The government said there were 3,856 deaths among people aged 30 or above, citing local mortality data. 70.5 per population and 6,546 deaths i.e. In 2020, there were 119.6 per population due to ischaemic heart diseases and heart disease.
The average death rate for the same period in 2018 to 2020 was 45.2 cases for every 100,000 people from October 31 to Nov 27 of this year, compared to 49.2 cases for every 100,000 people, according to the Hospital Authority.
The statement states that there is no evidence that vaccination increases the risk of death for recipients.
A pharmacovigilance system for COVID 19 immunization has been put in place by the Department of Health and is partnering with the University of Hong Kong to conduct an active surveillance program for adverse events of special interest. The purpose of the vaccine is to detect potential signals of possible side effects, according to the government.