Unrelated Deaths Bound To Happen: Former CHP Head

The former head of the Centre for Health Protection says the conclusion from an expert panel, that the death of a 63-year-old man wasn't vaccine-related, is sound and evidence-based.

The chronically-ill man was obese, with hypertension, diabetes and coronary heart disease. He died two days after getting a Sinovac Covid-19 jab.

Dr Thomas Tsang, a member of the government's vaccination programme task force, said as more people get vaccinated, the public should be psychologically prepared for such coincidences to happen.

"With more people getting vaccinated, these coincidences will happen - they are bound to happen," he said.

"Look at what Norway reported about two months ago, with over 20 elderly people dying after vaccination. That created a lot of concern but when the World Health Organization came out and said 'this is not related to vaccines' the vaccination rate picked up again. So I think we are witnessing a similar event happening."

In January, Norway reported the deaths of 23 very frail, elderly people who had been vaccinated with the BioNTech vaccine.

An article on the deaths in the British Medical Journal, published shortly afterwards, said more than 20,000 doses of the vaccine had been administered at the time in Norway and around 400 deaths normally occur among care home residents every week.