Deputy health minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said the ministry’s investigations found that two of the teenagers in Perak died before getting vaccinated.
“One passed away on Aug 18 and the other on Sept 17. The former had diabetes and depended on insulin while the other suffered from congenital heart disease and was brought to hospital with a severe infection, with the cause of death being ‘sepsis with underlying congenital heart disease’,” he said in a statement today, adding that both boys were 17.
He added that there were no deaths recorded among teenagers who had been vaccinated in Lahad Datu, Sabah.
Noor Azmi was responding to allegations made in a video that went viral yesterday, claiming that five teenagers died after receiving vaccines in Perak, Sabah, and another undisclosed location.
Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who shared his deputy’s statement on his Twitter account, said the woman in the video “flat out lied”.
The video also claimed that two teenagers were admitted to a hospital in Perak after suffering side effects from their jabs.
Noor Azmi, who is also the chairman of the Covid-19 immunisation task force-adolescent (CITF-A), said the ministry found that two siblings aged 16 and 18 in Ipoh had experienced side effects from the Pfizer vaccine and were warded at a private hospital in Ipoh.
The 16-year-old was discharged while the 18-year-old was still under observation. He added that the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) had yet to receive reports about the adverse side effects the teens experienced.
Meanwhile, Perak police said they were investigating the claim for “intentional insult to provoke breach of peace”.
“We will also be investigating the matter under Section 505(b) of the same Code for statements that could cause public alarm and distress,” Perak police chief Mior Faridalathrash Wahid said in a statement.
The country started its vaccination drive for teenagers earlier this month and targets 60% of those aged between 12 and 17 to receive at least one dose of the vaccine by November and a total of 80% of all teenagers to be fully vaccinated before schools reopen for the 2022 session.