Deaths, complications 'not linked'

A chronically ill 55-year-old woman who died and two elderly diabetic people now in critical condition after taking the Sinovac vaccine were not directly linked, an expert panel says.

But the experts have yet to conclude whether the latest and third death - that of a 71-year-old man past midnight yesterday - was related to CoronaVac as his autopsy has yet to be conducted.

The panel also concluded last week that the city's first vaccine recipient death - a 63-year-old man - was not directly linked to the Sinovac jab he had two days before he died on February 28.

Despite only 56 deaths being reported among 44 million Sinovac vaccine recipients worldwide, Ivan Hung Fan-ngai - co-convener of the Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment Following Covid-19 Immunization - said none of the deaths in Hong Kong or overseas have been proved to be related to the shots.

Preliminary information on the 71-year-old man who died showed he enjoyed good health and only had "a thyroid issue from many years ago," said Lee Cheuk-kwong, the other co-convener of the panel.

In contrast to the two previous deaths who were inoculated at the Kwun Chung Sports Centre vaccination clinic, the third man received his jab at a private clinic last Wednesday.

Lee said the panel has approached the clinic, which it did not name, and did not find anything out of the ordinary in the man's consultation and medical history.

Sources said the private doctor who administered his injection was respiratory specialist Michael Chan Chio-ho from Ching Long medical center at Ching Long Shopping Centre on Muk Hung Street in Kowloon City. Sources said the man died in his sleep. His wife found him unconscious late Sunday night and dialed 999.

Paramedics found the man's heart had stopped beating and did cardiopulmonary resuscitation while rushing him to the accident and emergency ward of United Christian Hospital in Kwun Tong past midnight yesterday. He was pronounced dead one hour later.

On the 55-year-old woman who died on Saturday, four days after taking the Sinovac jab, Hung said her clinical diagnosis was a heart attack while the autopsy found a rupture in her neck artery, which explains her stroke symptoms. "The woman had chronic diseases, including hypertension and high blood fat," he said.

For the 80-year-old man in critical condition in Caritas Medical Centre's intensive care unit since Sunday, Hung said he has a history of diabetes, plaque in his neck arteries, hypertension and stroke. He received the Sinovac jab at Tin Fai Road Sports Center in Yuen Long on March 1.

On the 72-year-old diabetic woman in critical condition at Prince of Wales Hospital's ICU, one day after she took the jab on Saturday at Tseung Kwan O Sports Centre, Lee said she suffered from fatigue - a common adverse effect of vaccination - and skipped two doses of regular insulin, contributing to her acute high blood sugar.

As of Saturday afternoon, the Centre for Health Protection had received 45 reports of hospitalization following vaccinations.

Experts outside the panel are divided on whether vaccination should go on for people above 60.