Malaysia's COVID-19 vaccine's AEFI within global average - Dr Jemilah
Dr Jemilah said it is also important to ensure children's safety against infection by providing them with a safe environment when schools reopen. Filepic/BERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR: The COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force is viewing every reported adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) of the COVID-19 vaccination seriously, said Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on Public Health Tan Sri Dr. Jemilah Mahmood.
She said every single AEFI will be discussed in detail by the task force and the Special Committee for Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) in their weekly meetings.
"We do not hide the truth; if there is something we need to tell the public, we will. At the moment what I can say is, we meet every week, and every single AEFI is looked at in details. We need to be very clear that any adverse effect is monitored, and in the event of death (which) happen after vaccine, in a certain period of time, postmortem is required to establish the causality.
"Of cause every death is very sad, but we cannot attribute that to vaccine alone," she said in an online news conference after the virtual launch of the Virus Hunter Campaign, on Wednesday.
The campaign was jointly launched by US Ambassador to Malaysia Brian D. McFeeters.
She added that Malaysia also benchmarked its AEFI to global benchmark.
"What I can tell you is, our number is not any higher than other country and it falls within the global average," she added.
On another development, Dr Jemilah said it is also important to ensure children's safety against infection by providing them with a safe environment when schools reopen.
"If they cannot receive vaccine, we have to ensure the environment they are in are safe so they don't catch the virus. This means parents, older siblings and teachers should receive vaccine," she said, adding that schools must also ensure classrooms are well-ventilated as a measure to prevent transmission.
She added that the government is expected to come up with guidelines for public on how to ventilate their work spaces.
Virus Hunter campaign is sponsored by the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and in partnership with Penang Science Cluster to teach Malaysian youths about the global fight against the spread of disease and the science behind vaccines.
It is a virtual exhibit which helps youths better understand how diseases spread and the global fight to combat infectious diseases.
-- BERNAMA
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