A 13-year-old child from Kamwatta, Moruca, Region 1 (Barima-Waini) died earlier yesterday afternoon, after taking a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. The Ministry confirmed this last night , and is urging citizens not to speculate ahead of a post-mortem examination scheduled to be conducted on the child’s body tomorrow.
See full release below:
A 13-year-old child from Kamwatta, Moruca, Region 1 (Barima-Waini) died earlier this afternoon. The Ministry of Health is saddened by his death and expresses our deepest condolences to his parents, his family and the community of Kamwatta.
The child received his second dose of Pfizer vaccine at 2.00 pm today. He had received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine three weeks ago without any adverse effect. After receiving his second dose of the Pfizer vaccine today, he was observed for an uneventful twenty minutes and showed no reaction to the vaccine. He was then allowed to proceed home. Two hours after returning home, he felt faint and was taken to the Kumaka Hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
The cause of death is unknown at this time. A senior team from the Ministry of Health, including Senior Pathologist, Dr. Nehaul Singh is scheduled to travel to Moruca tomorrow to determine the cause of death. A post mortem will be conducted by the team, and the circumstances leading to the child’s death will be determined.
We urge citizens not to indulge in speculation and await the results of the post mortem and other-related investigations.
The Ministry of Health and the Health Teams from Georgetown and Region One stand ready to provide all support to the family and the community of Kamwatta. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, and we pray they have the strength to cope with the loss of a loved one.