04/02/2021 / By Ramon Tomey
A 26-year old construction worker in Hong Kong experienced facial paralysis after getting his first dose of the CoronaVac vaccine from Sinovac Biotech on March 24. The perfectly healthy worker, surnamed Lam, visited the community vaccination center at Tseung Kwan O Sports Centre, as part of the city’s immunization program for priority workers. He felt dizzy and lost consciousness after getting the shot, eventually regaining consciousness but with a paralyzed and swollen face.
Lam told Hong Kong media outlet Oriental Daily that his right eye remained swollen “like it had been punched by somebody” four hours after he was vaccinated. Footage shared with the media outlet showed the Hong Kong resident unable to close his eyes. Lam’s face was also deformed and his mouth tilted to the left. He also mentioned experiencing dizziness, redness in the ears and chest pains aside from the facial paralysis.
“I could feel the [first aid] man patting me, and could hear him calling me – but I couldn’t respond,” Lam said. He was then sent to an emergency room for treatment, where he subsequently regained consciousness.
Lam’s experience occurred amid the administrative region’s populace expressing doubt about the Sinovac jabs. Ever since Hong Kong commenced its COVID-19 immunization program on Feb. 22, eleven deaths have been reported following inoculation – three of which happened within nine days.
A 63-year old man with a history of diabetes died on Feb. 28, two days after he got the CoronaVac vaccine. A 55-year-old woman later died on March 6 after getting the Sinovac jab four days before. She was sent to the hospital after losing control over the left side of her body while at work. Doctors then diagnosed her with a stroke, which she eventually passed away from. The third victim, a 71-year-old man, died on March 8. It is not known what vaccine did the man receive, but he was reportedly in good health and had been vaccinated four days before his untimely death.
The most recent fatality occurred on March 25, when hikers found an unconscious 59-year-old man at Sai Kung. According to a release by the Hong Kong Department of Health, the old man received the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine a week before he was found unconscious. Doctors at the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital tried to resuscitate the man, but to no avail.
A member of Hong Kong’s Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment Following COVID-19 Immunization confirmed reports of adverse effects from the Sinovac jabs. Co-convenor Ivan Hung Fan Ngai said on March 24 that at least nine Hong Kong residents – all of them male – suffered facial paralysis after their first dose of the Wuhan coronavirus vaccine. Eight of them received the Sinovac jab while the other person got the BNT162b2 vaccine, manufactured in China by BioNTech and its Chinese partner Fosun Pharmaceutical.
Even before the BNT162b2 jab saw widespread emergency use in different countries, American regulators have expressed concern about potential side effects it may cause – including facial paralysis. Back in December 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revealed that four volunteers who got the vaccine in clinical trials developed facial paralysis. The FDA’s report came days before it was scheduled to deliberate on the jab’s emergency use authorization.
While the FDA did not say the vaccine directly caused the facial paralysis, it warned that doctors should watch out for the side effect. It also promised to observe any adverse cases closely. The vaccine manufactured by Pfizer and BioNTech in the U.S. eventually gained emergency use approval on Dec. 11.
The Hong Kong government, on the other hand, announced on March 24 that it would suspend the use of the BNT162b2 vaccine developed by BioNTech and Fosun Pharmaceutical. According to the city’s leadership, it received written notification from Fosun regarding issues in the vial seal found in one batch of the jab. But a commentator has expressed doubt that this was actually the real reason why Hong Kong stopped using the mRNA vaccine. (Related: Pfizer vaccines HALTED in Hong Kong after multiple defects were reported.)
China affairs commentator Tang Jingyuan said on March 25: “We can’t rule out the possibility that the suspension might be a trick that the [mainland Chinese] regime is trying to ban any imported vaccines, and only allow people to vaccinate with China-made ones.”
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Tagged Under: adverse effects, Bell's palsy, coronavirus vaccine, covid-19 pandemic, facial paralysis, facial swelling, Hong Kong, immunization program, Sinovac Biotech, Tseung Kwan O Sports Centre, vaccine injury, Wuhan coronavirus
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