Authorities: "All Investigated Post-Vaccination Deaths Difficult to Confirm Causality" (Comprehensive)

No Severe Adverse Reactions Among Recipients of the Same Vaccine
"Other Suspected Causes of Death Confirmed"

"Difficult to Prove No Causality.
Evidence Must Continue to Be Presented for No Causal Relationship"

Jung Eun-kyung, Director of the Central Disease Control Headquarters (Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency) [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The COVID-19 Vaccination Injury Investigation Team has provisionally concluded that it is difficult to recognize a causal relationship between adverse reactions after vaccination and deaths reported up to the 6th.

Jung Eun-kyung, head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters (Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency), announced at the regular briefing of the COVID-19 Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on the 8th that the Vaccination Injury Investigation Team held a meeting on the 7th and made this judgment regarding a total of eight death cases reported up to the 6th. The investigation team consists of eight members, including professors specializing in infectious diseases, respiratory allergy, neurology, and forensic scientists.

The investigation team judged that all eight cases under investigation "did not correspond to anaphylaxis, which can rapidly lead to death after vaccination," and "there were no severe adverse reaction cases among vaccine recipients with the same institution, date, and batch number, and the possibility of abnormalities in the vaccine product or errors in the vaccination process is low."

Based on the data collected and analyzed so far, the investigation concluded that ▲ no signs presumed to be adverse reactions after vaccination were confirmed at the time of death, ▲ the possibility of death due to exacerbation of underlying diseases such as cerebrovascular disease, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, and epilepsy is high, and ▲ other presumed causes of death such as cerebral hemorrhage, heart failure, myocardial infarction, sepsis, and acute hepatitis were identified, thus provisionally judging that it is difficult to recognize a causal relationship between adverse reactions after vaccination and death.

Regarding the case of death from acute liver cirrhosis after vaccination despite no underlying liver disease, Professor Jo Yong-gyun of Gachon University College of Medicine’s Department of Infectious Diseases explained, "There have been no reported cases worldwide of fulminant infectious death caused by the vaccine," and added, "It is presumed that the patient died from acute sepsis caused by cholangitis, which was not detected early due to the patient’s inability to express themselves properly," emphasizing that there is no causal relationship between vaccination and death in this case as well.

In response, Professor Jung Jae-hoon of Gachon University College of Medicine’s Department of Preventive Medicine stated, "It is very easy to prove a causal relationship that ‘an adverse reaction occurred due to the vaccine.’ We just need to show evidence or cases of such causality." Conversely, he emphasized, "It is very difficult to prove that ‘the adverse reaction was not caused by the vaccine.’ We have to continuously provide evidence for the absence of causality." He added, "Experts are conducting independent and professional causality assessments of adverse reactions," and requested, "We hope you trust us a little and wait until the results come out."

President Moon Jae-in and Jung Eun-kyeong, Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, visited the Mapo-gu Public Health Center in Seoul on the 26th of last month, observing Dr. Kim Yoon-tae, a rehabilitation facility worker (Purme Nexus Children's Rehabilitation Hospital), receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The investigation covered a total of eight cases, of which six were male and two were female. The age groups were ▲ one in their 20s ▲ one in their 40s ▲ four in their 50s ▲ two in their 60s, all of whom were hospitalized patients in nursing hospitals with underlying diseases.

However, since four of the cases under investigation are currently undergoing autopsy at the National Forensic Service, the investigation team regards the current results as provisional and plans to conduct additional evaluations after confirming the final autopsy results. Regarding the provisional conclusion, Kim Joong-gon, head of the investigation team, explained, "The eight deceased patients were all admitted to nursing hospitals and had underlying diseases, which can explain the deaths to some extent," and added, "There are some deficiencies in records and examination processes, so we are conducting autopsies to confirm more definitively."

The COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team is also conducting epidemiological investigations with relevant local governments on additional reported deaths and severe cases. The team plans to continue operating the Vaccination Injury Investigation Team regularly and to publicly announce the evaluation results.

Furthermore, Head Jung Eun-kyung emphasized, "If severe allergic reactions such as anaphylaxis occur to any component of the COVID-19 vaccine, vaccination should not be administered," and "Vaccination should be postponed if there are suspected infection symptoms, fever, or acute illness." She also urged, "All vaccinated individuals should remain at the vaccination site for 15 to 30 minutes after vaccination to monitor for adverse reactions such as anaphylaxis," and "After returning home, please observe carefully for more than three hours and pay special attention to your physical condition for at least three days."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.