If you’ve read an article about an 81-year-old man who died after taking the COVID-19 vaccine, that story only paints half the picture.
Singapore’s Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation office, or POFMA, revealed today that the unnamed man had died of ischaemic heart disease and not because of reactions resulting from the COVID-19 vaccination he had taken.
Post mortem findings showed a lack of blood circulation to his heart muscles and there was no evidence of “acute anaphylaxis or an allergic reaction at the injection site,” according to the POFMA office, which has ordered several online pages to publish correction notices about the elderly man, as well as those that implied that a doctor had suffered a stroke after taking the vaccine.
“COVID-19 vaccines that are used in Singapore have been assessed to be safe and efficacious by both the HSA and the Expert Committee on COVID-19 Vaccination,” it said in today’s statement. “Medical teams are well-equipped and measures are in place at all vaccination sites to ensure the safety of vaccine recipients pre-, during, and post-vaccination.”
Opposition politician Goh Meng Seng from the People’s Power Party and the Singapore Uncensored website were ordered to post correction notices on their Facebook pages and website. Goh had posted about the doctor on April 2 on two Facebook pages, while online posts about the elderly man were published by Goh and the website on April 7.
“A Facebook post below (dated 7 April 2021) contains a false statement of fact,” one of the correction notices said, containing a link to the government website containing the accurate information.
Singapore Uncensored’s report on the elderly man had cited a Facebook post that was written by someone who claimed to be the daughter of the deceased. That post, which included photos of a man on a hospital bed, appears to have been deleted.
Mount Elizabeth Hospital addressed allegations that one of its doctors suffered a severe reaction to the vaccine on April 4, calling them “untrue.”
More than a million people in Singapore have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of March 23. The country has reported more than 60,000 coronavirus cases and 30 deaths since the outbreak began.
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