The Progressive Health Forum says there is no evidence yet suggesting that COVID-19 vaccines are the direct cause of some fatalities.
This after the Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) reported that 28 people have died after the administration of both the Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson vaccines.
SAHPRA and health experts maintain that there are no scientific facts yet, proving that vaccines are to blame for the sudden deaths of presumably healthy people.
The Convenor of Progressive Health Forum is Dr Aslam Dasoo says, “All the vaccines will have some degree of adverse effects but these are very low instances when you compare it to any other medication or vaccine that one would normally use.”
“If you take the numbers here, some 21-28 deaths are suspected to be from the vaccinations and we have had over five million shots. So we have to look at it in that context. There is no drug that has ever been approved that doesn’t come with side or adverse effects. It’s the incidents of it that determine whether it is broadly safe and efficacious.”
Meanwhile, President of the South African Medical Research Council, Glenda Gray, says South Africa will see a drop in COVID-19 deaths if it is able to vaccinate most people in the country.
Professor Gray says globally vaccines have been found to be effective in combating COVID-19 and are safe.
“At a global level, 3.6 billion doses of vaccine have been given. We know at a global level that they have been found to be effective and safe. We would like a little more precision about what happened to this person. Any death happening within 28 days of vaccination, should get a post-mortem. At a global level, these vaccines have been used so it’s unlikely that in South Africa, we are going to see more deaths or more side effects than anywhere else in the world. All of them have been found to reduce your risk of being hospitalised or dying.”
In the video below, SAHPRA says it’s continuing to monitor the safety risks of the various COVID-19 vaccines being used in the country:
