Authorities in Vietnam have suspended the use of a batch of Vero Cell COVID-19 vaccine produced by China’s Sinopharm following the fourth death reported post-vaccination.

The Thanh Hoa Province Department of Health proposed that the provincial Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control halt the administration of Vero Cell vaccine jabs from batch B2021103398 while awaiting more information on the deaths from the Ministry of Health.

The province’s health department also asked that the provincial Center for Disease Control send samples of the doses in question to the National Institute for Control of Vaccines and Biologicals for testing.

The suspension followed the deaths of four recipients of the shots from the batch.

The latest victim was a female from a group of workers at Kim Viet Shoe Company that had been vaccinated with Vero Cell COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday in Thanh Hoa’s Nong Cong District.

She was treated for anaphylactic shock following the injection at Thanh Hoa General Hospital by medical experts from Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi.

She was pronounced dead on Friday despite being put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), or outside-the-body life support.

Three other workers were announced dead on Wednesday and Thursday. 

All of the four deceased were diagnosed with anaphylactic shock.

All of the factory workers who had participated in Tuesday’s vaccinations had their health screened and were advised about potential side effects in advance.

Ten of the workers suffered severe reactions within 30 minutes of their vaccinations.

Besides the four deaths, six other workers had their health monitored at Thanh Hoa General Hospital.

Experts from Bach Mai Hospital affirmed that the organization of Tuesday’s vaccination drive at Kim Viet Shoe Company had been carried out in accordance with regulations.

The Vero Cell COVID-19 vaccine, produced by China National Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. (Sinopharm), was approved for emergency use in Vietnam in early June.

Thanh Hoa has recorded some 2,100 COVID-19 cases since the fourth coronavirus wave flared up in Vietnam in late April, including around 1,100 recoveries and 12 deaths, according to the provincial health department’s statistics.

More than 2.4 million vaccine shots have been given in the province, which has a population of 3.6 million, according to the national COVID-19 vaccination portal.

Health workers in Nong Cong District had administered over 10,000 out of the 29,900 doses of Vero Cell COVID-19 vaccine planned for its current inoculation round before the four fatalities.

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