Lampang jabs resume after serious case

Lampang jabs resume after serious case

A medical worker shows a vial with the Chinese-developed CoronaVac vaccine against the coronavirus disease at a clinic in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 15. (Reuters photo)
A medical worker shows a vial with the Chinese-developed CoronaVac vaccine against the coronavirus disease at a clinic in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 15. (Reuters photo)

Lampang authorities have said nine of 604 recipients temporarily suffered undesirable effects 15 minutes after getting Sinovac Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday.

Dr Prasert Kitsuwannarat, the Lampang provincial chief public health officer, dismissed Thai media reports earlier that as many as 40 had been affected, forcing a suspension of the vaccination in the province on that day.

He said Covid-19 vaccination began in the province early this month for 900 health personnel — 400 medical personnel and 500 village health volunteers.

In the first round, 150 people developed side effects — swelling and pain in the injection areas, dizziness and exhaustion — which disappeared in one day.

On Wednesday, 604 employees at Lampang Hospital received the shots, nine of whom developed numbness in the face and mouth, which are categorised as general undesirable symptoms.

One of them also developed limb weakness, which are considered a serious symptom. The vaccination was therefore suspended to observe the symptoms.

The serious case showed symptoms consistent with transient ischemic attack and received symtomatic treatment. After four hours, she fully recovered.

A check found the vaccine was safe to use, with no contamination. 

Dr Prasert added the vaccination of medical personnel had already resumed on Thursday.

He said some people might develop some side effects after vaccination. “They disappear after patients rest for a while. It depends on one’s health,” he said. 

His account was much less disturbing than what Thai media reported earlier on Thursday.

Citing unnamed provincial sources, Thai-language news outlets claimed as many as 40 medical personnel developed undesirable symptoms after getting the shots.

They reported that 15 minutes after being vaccinated, a nurse, aged 46, suffered tightness in the chest, dizziness, headache and severe vomiting. Other symptoms followed — numbness in the face, slurred speech and sudden weakness in the left side of the body.

She was taken to the emergency ward and the symptoms worsened.

According to Thairath Online and Matichon Online, doctors at Lampang Hospital consulted Dr Tasanee Tantirittisak, chairperson of the Neurological Society of Thailand, who advised them to follow the stroke fast track procedures — doing a computed tomography angiography brain scan and administering a recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) to break down blood clots.

After being treated with IA rtPA, her symptoms improved after four hours. 

The shots were from the manufacturing lot directly following the one used in the immunisation of medical personnel in Rayong earlier in which six suffered similar symptoms, according to Thai media.

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