Hong Kong – Update on monitoring COVID-19 vaccinations

     In the preceding week till 11.59pm on May 9, the Department of Health (DH) received 254 reports (Note 1) of adverse events following COVID-19 immunisation, including five death cases reported by the Hospital Authority (HA) involving individuals who had received COVID-19 vaccines.
      
     As at 8pm on May 9, about 1.74 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered for members of the public. Around 1.07 million people had received at least one dose of vaccine, accounting for 16.3 per cent of the population aged 16 or above. The DH received about 2 660 reports (Note 1) of adverse events (0.15 per cent of total vaccine doses administered), including 19 death cases with vaccinations within 14 days before they passed away (0.0011 per cent of total vaccine doses administered).
      
     As at May 9, the Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment Following COVID-19 Immunisation (Expert Committee) (Note 2) concluded that seven death cases had no causal relationship with vaccinations, and preliminarily considered that 21 cases were not associated with vaccinations. Five cases were pending assessment. The Expert Committee considered that there is no unusual pattern identified so far, and will continue to closely monitor the relevant situation and collect data for assessment.
      
     According to information by the HA, during the period from April 5 to May 2, the ratio of death cases out of those without a vaccination record was 53.1 cases for every 100 000 people, whereas the ratio of death cases for those with a vaccination record was 2.3 cases for every 100 000 people. The overall death rate is similar to that recorded in the past three years. Out of those without a vaccination record, the ratio of death cases with acute stroke or acute myocardial infarction was 2.7 cases for every 100 000 people, whereas the ratio of death cases under the same category for those with a vaccination record was 0.4 cases for every 100 000 people. Based on the statistical analysis of the above figures, there is no evidence that vaccination increases the risk of death for recipients.
      
     The majority of non-death cases of adverse events received so far are relatively minor cases. The relevant details can be found at the “Report on the Safety Monitoring of COVID-19 Vaccines in Hong Kong” (www.drugoffice.gov.hk/eps/do/en/doc/Safety_Monitoring_of_COVID-19_Vaccines_in_Hong_Kong.pdf).
 
Note 1: Provisional figures
 
Note 2: The Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment Following COVID-19 Immunisation perform continuous monitoring of the possible adverse events following administration of COVID-19 vaccines, and provide professional views and suggestions on safety monitoring of the authorised COVID-19 vaccines. The membership list and the key functions of the Expert Committee can be found at the following website (www.covidvaccine.gov.hk/en/expert).