Recently, TrialSite reported that 120 children became ill from the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, while at least three children died due to unfortunate responses to the vaccine. Now, news out of Vietnam raises more trouble, as yet another child died after COVID-19 inoculation with BNT162b2. While still a rare event, the news is no less concerning.
A 15-year-old boy died, representing the fourth pediatric death associated with the COVID-19 vaccine. The boy lived in Son La, a northern province in this Southeast Asian nation. The boy resided with his family in the Thuan Chau District and received the first BNT162b2 dose on Dec. 4 but all looked OK, with no symptoms an hour after the vaccine’s injection, reported Nguyen Huu Hung, deputy director of Son La’s health department to VnExpress. However, just a couple of days later, concerning symptoms surfaced including dizziness and nausea. The boy was taken to the local hospital, then transferred to Son La General Hospital where he passed away days later.
Four children have died due to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, including:
ChildProvince or City
12-year old boyBinh Phuoc
16-year old boyBac Giang
9th-grade girl (est. 14)City of Hanoi (capital)Latest
15-year old boySon La province
Cause of Death
Multiple press in Vietnam have identified the death as directly related to the vaccine, or according to the National Health Ministry, as an “overreaction to the vaccine,” however, they clarify in the press as “not linked to the quality of the vaccine or the vaccination process.”
Immunization Continues
The nation continues to employ a mass eradication of COVID-19 pathogen via vaccination scheme as is nearly every country around the world. By December 6, VnExpress reports 53 million doses have been administered to this age group. To date, 936,200 children have been fully inoculated.
“These adverse events and deaths are extremely rare,” reports Daniel O’Connor, founder of TrialSite, as the local press reports health ministry metrics that only 0.3% of the vaccinated children evidence even mild adverse events. TrialSite suggests that nonetheless, these types of incidents are troubling given the potential risk-benefit analysis outcomes for children of this age.
Are proper risk-benefit analyses undertaken for children in Vietnam? Meaning, are the associated risks higher in Vietnam for children of this age with SARS-CoV-2 infection as compared to the risk of vaccination? In America, depending on the data and source, zero to just a few children have died from the virus—all but a few hundred deaths to date are associated with significant comorbidities. However, with the Delta variant, more children became infected and some were even hospitalized with more severe conditions. There are no easy answers to this pandemic. Any death is a tragedy and over 5 million have died from this pathogen. TrialSite will continue to bring as much transparency and accessibility to medical research as possible.