A March 5 report by TellZim on the death of a health worker, a week after he took a COVID-19 vaccine, caused social media speculation over vaccine safety.
According to the report: “A Gutu health worker at Mutema Health Care Centre has reportedly died in Harare days after being vaccinated with the Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine.”
While the news outlet did not directly blame the death on the vaccine, some online responses to the article suggested that the vaccination may have been the cause.
However, there is no evidence that the vaccine caused the health worker’s death.
Masvingo Provincial Medical Director, Dr Amadeus Shamhu, told ZimFact that there was no evidence to link the vaccine to the death.
What do authorities do in such cases?
According to the Ministry of Health and Child Care: “If a potential problem is reported following vaccination in Zimbabwe, a thorough investigation will take place. Investigations involve a thorough examination of the case in question, including medical assessment by experts.
“During these investigations, it is extremely rare that health problems are found to be caused by the vaccine itself. Health events are most often found to be coincidental, i.e. entirely unrelated to vaccination.”
The Cabinet statement of March 2 announced that a committee of health experts was appointed to monitor effectiveness of the vaccine. The government said, at the time: “No major adverse reactions have been recorded to date, except for a single case of a minor reaction which manifested in a rash.”
Sinopharm side effects: What do experts say?
Scientists point out that all vaccines may cause side effects. However, most of these are mild and not deadly.
Peer-reviewed journal JAMA in August 2020 published interim results of two Phase 2 clinical trials of the Sinopharm vaccine, and wrote: “This inactivated COVID-19 vaccine had a low rate of adverse reactions and demonstrated immunogenicity.”
Similar finding were published in October 2020 by The Lancet, one of the world’s leading medical journals, which reported: “All adverse events were mild or moderate in severity.”
Below is what Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health advises on all vaccines:
“Minor reactions can occur after getting a vaccine such as a pain or swelling on injection site or a mild fever and irritability in children. These are usually indications that the vaccine has started to work. More serious side effects such as shock and persistent fever are possible, but extremely rare and vaccinators are trained to manage these.”
Conclusion
There is no evidence to suggest that the health worker in Masvingo died from the COVID-19 vaccine. According to the Ministry of Health, such cases are investigated during vaccinations. Deaths from vaccines are rare. Two peer-reviewed studies showed that Sinopharm side effects are mild.
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