Cape Town - More than 6 000 adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) were reported to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) following the use of either Pfizer or Janssen (J&J) JCovid-19 vaccines.
A total of 2 771 clinical investigations were either concluded or are under way.
This was revealed by Health Minister Joe Phaahla in a written parliamentary response to EFF MP Naledi Chirwa’s question.
Chirwa wanted to know the total number of adverse effects caused by Covid-19 vaccines that have been reported to the government. She also asked about the number of probed AEFIs.
According to Phaahla, between May 17, 2021 and August 8, 2022 there were 6 561 minor and severe cases.
He said only severe and serious AEFIs were investigated and a total of 2 771 clinical investigations were either concluded or under way.
“Following investigation, the case files are sent to the National Immunisation Safety Expert Committee for assessment. In assessments completed up to September 2, 2022 there were 81 AEFIs that have been linked to the use of a Covid-19 vaccine (Pfizer 52 and J&J 29). These events include immunisation stress-related reactions (fear of vaccination) and vaccine product-related reactions or were related to the immunisation programme,” said Phaahla.
He added that causality assessment outcomes are shared with the provincial health departments to provide feedback to the vaccine injured parties, regardless of the outcome.
“The purpose of causality assessment is to ensure that high levels of vaccine confidence are maintained in the immunisation programme, and it is therefore essential to identify if an AEFI was causally linked to the use of the vaccine or whether the AEFI was coincidental to vaccination.”
Cape Times