KUALA LUMPUR – Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin will be meeting the parents of a 13-year-old boy who died less than three weeks after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine.
In a press conference today, he said the details of the teenager’s post-mortem results are personal, and ought to be presented to his parents first.
The meeting is slated to take place at Khairy’s office at the Health Ministry tomorrow.
“The post-mortem results are confidential, and these are details that need to be conveyed to the parents of the deceased.
“However, if his parents agree for the information to be made public, then we will do so as anonymised data. This is in accordance with the ministry’s rules.”
In terms of post-mortem procedures, he said the assessment was conducted by the pharmacovigilance committee and involved the collection of blood and tissue samples that were sent to laboratories and the Chemistry Department.
His response came after certain quarters questioned why it was taking a long time for the report to be released when the deceased passed away in January.
“This is because we want to ensure that the investigation is complete. Not only on the autopsy but also the delivery of blood and tissue samples to the laboratory.
“Lastly, we were waiting for the report from the Chemistry Department under Mosti (Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry) which we have received today.
“That’s why I will be meeting the parents tomorrow.”
Previously, the parents of the late Revnesh Kumar Naresh Kumar called for a transparent probe into the cause of their son’s untimely death.
Revnesh’s parents, driver Naresh Kumar and housewife Vijayarani Govindan – from Putrajaya – urged the ministry to expedite the investigation into the case, as the cause of death has yet to be confirmed.
They believed the death was related to his first dose of the vaccine, which was taken on December 30.
On January 16 this year, Revnesh was on the way to karate class when he began vomiting and then collapsed before he was rushed to Kajang Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
On February 24, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the boy who died 18 days after receiving his Covid-19 vaccination did not report any side effects from the vaccine.
In a joint press conference with Khairy, he said no allergies, side effects, or adverse events following immunisation were reported to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency. – The Vibes, March 3, 2022