KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 – The National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) has not yet categorised the death of 13-year-old Revnesh Kumar as a case of serious side effects after Covid-19 vaccination.
Revnesh died on January 16, his parents say, 18 days after receiving his first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine on December 30 in a public health clinic in Putrajaya last year.
The Selangor teenager’s parents and the Ministry of Health (MOH) previously said Revnesh did not report any side effects after his jab, until he collapsed on January 16 and died subsequently in Kajang Hospital.
Revnesh’s mother Vijayarani Govindan believes that the death of her only son was caused by the coronavirus vaccine, claiming that Revnesh did not have any underlying disease and was never hospitalised prior to his death.
“So far, we haven’t received any AEFI on this case,” NPRA director Dr Roshayati Mohamad Sani told a media briefing today on adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) with the Covid-19 vaccine.
She added that either Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin or Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah would explain Revnesh’s case in further detail at their press conference tomorrow.
NPRA pharmacovigilance division head Dr Azuana Ramli told today’s media briefing that side effects from Covid-19 vaccination usually occur within 30 days.
“If you have a heart condition, for example, after three months, probably not. But if you still think that it’s caused by the vaccine, by all means, you can report.”
NPRA received 1,763 reports of serious AEFI in the overall Covid-19 vaccination programme as of February 25, including 596 suspected AEFI deaths.
The 1,763 reports of serious AEFI are equivalent to 26 reports per million doses. Nearly 66.8 million coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered in Malaysia as of February 25.
Revnesh’s parents have demanded quicker answers for their child’s death, after MOH reportedly told them to wait six months for completion of the post-mortem. Revnesh’s cause of death is currently stated as “pending”.
