The Tribune

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT

tsmith-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

ALTHOUGH a well-known Grand Bahama doctor has claimed his family suffered adverse side effects from the AstraZeneca shot, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Delon Brennen says there was no official complaint made to the Ministry of Health.

Just last week, Dr Kevin Bethel could be heard on a well circulated voice note advising a patient not to take the vaccine as it reportedly made his wife, his son and himself ill after they took it.

He also made other claims in the recording.

The Tribune spoke to Dr Brennen who said officials do not have any complaint about these claims.

He said, “No there wasn’t any complaint on this. The CMO (chief medical officer) made a report on effects at the last press conference. We didn’t hear of complaints. We heard reports of side effects. There were about 69 out of 10,000 people. They were mild effects.”

He said most of the reported symptoms can be associated with regular side effects of inoculations which are runny nose, fevers and pain at site of injection.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Health issued a report on “events supposedly attributable to vaccination or immunisation (ESAVI)”.

The ministry said these reports assist in investigating and determining the stated symptoms are definitively related to vaccination and provide any necessary support to the person who is experiencing the symptoms.

Health officials said there have been no reports to the Ministry of Health of allergic reactions, blood clots, post-vaccination hospitalisations or deaths associated with receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination in The Bahamas.

The ministry reminded the public that events after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine must be reported to the Ministry of Health immediately by calling the telephone number 818-2975.

As released at a press conference by the Ministry of Health last week, data collected as of April 4 showed that there were 69 vaccine recipients who reported one or more ESAVI on New Providence, Grand Bahama and Eleuthera as follows: headache - 21 percent; injection site itching and rash, diarrhea and dizziness - 20 percent; fever - 15 percent; chills - 13 percent; muscle pain - 9 percent; pain at the injection site - 8 percent; fatigue - 8 percent; nausea - 6 percent; and chest pain - 1 percent.

Because there can be erroneous and misleading reports derived from social media, the ministry encourages the public to obtain health information from reliable sources such as the Ministry of Health, the Office of the Prime Minister, the World Health Organisation and the Pan American Health Organisation.

It warned that the public should beware of receiving and/or sharing misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccine.

The release said the circulation of misinformation threatens public health efforts and can be harmful to a person’s physical and mental health.