Singapore — The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has given a breakdown of adverse events suffered by people who have had Covid vaccine shots as of Aug 31.
According to the HSA, an adverse event is considered serious when the person needs hospitalisation or an extended stay in hospital, or if it results in a significant reduction in functioning level or a disability, a life-threatening illness or death, birth defects or is a medically important event.
Ninety people experienced suspected adverse events after Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccinations, among which there were five serious reports.
This means the Sinovac vaccine has a rate of 0.053 per cent for adverse effects, with a rate of about 0.003 per cent for serious ones.
There have been more than 168,400 doses of the Sinovac vaccine administered in the country since June when the vaccine was allowed to be given via special access route.
As for the mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, there have been 11,737 suspected adverse effects since the first doses were administered in December of last year. Among these, 498 were classified as serious adverse events.
The total number of mRNA jabs given far outnumber Sinovac doses, however, with over 8.7 million doses administered as of Aug 31.
The mRNA vaccines administered in Singapore have a rate of 0.13 per cent for adverse effects, of which 0.006 per cent have been considered as serious cases.
According to the HSA, “The type and number of reports received for the different Covid-19 vaccines are not directly comparable as the vaccines may have been used in the vaccination programme for different lengths of time, and may have been administered to different numbers of people, with different underlying medical conditions and across different settings.”
Among the serious adverse effects of those who received Sinovac shots, there were two reports of anaphylaxis, one of vertigo with ringing in the ears, one of Bell’s Palsy and one serious allergic reaction.
For those who were given mRNA vaccines and suffered serious adverse effects, 72 suffered from anaphylaxis, and 49 experienced other severe allergic reactions. The 72 who experienced anaphylaxis have all since recovered, HSA added.
These are the other serious adverse events experienced by those who were given Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines: exacerbation of underlying asthma condition, breathing difficulty, fast heart rate, an increase or decrease in blood pressure, chest discomfort and pain, pericarditis or myocarditis.
HSA said, “The incidence rate of anaphylaxis reported locally with the vaccines is about 0.87 per 100,000 doses administered, which is similar to the incidence rates reported overseas.”
It added that the suspected adverse events suffered by those who received Sinovac shots “were consistent with those typically observed following vaccination.” /TISG
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