THE head of Public Health has stressed that Covid jabs are safe – after 12 deaths in the Channel Islands were logged on a ‘self-reporting’ scheme which records possible reactions to vaccines.
The fatalities, as well as 839 adverse reactions, have been registered on the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority’s Yellow Card scheme, which allows people to submit details of suspected side-effects and reactions to a range of medical products.
The potential reactions featured in the Covid data, revealed in a freedom of information request, include cardiac disorders, respiratory conditions, infections and nervous-system disorders.
However, Public Health director Professor Peter Bradley said that the scheme only includes ‘possible’ reactions and that there had been no confirmed deaths from Covid jabs in the Channel Islands.
But he has encouraged Islanders to continue using the Yellow Card scheme, saying that it would help to identify any side-effects.
Islanders were first encouraged to report any reactions to the scheme when the Covid vaccination programme began in 2021.
Professor Bradley said: ‘It is integral to the drug development process and the way that rare side-effects, which can take a very long time to emerge can be recognised and researched.
‘That said, the Yellow Card scheme is there to advise about possible associations with the vaccination. It doesn’t necessarily mean that side- effects reported are associated with the vaccine.
‘If you get a fever after the vaccination, it might be a result of the vaccination, but it also might be a fever you’ve got from another cause.’
He moved to reassure Islanders that every fatality in the Island was ‘thoroughly recorded’ and the cause of death investigated, saying: ‘I’m not aware of any deaths caused by vaccination in Jersey and we have very few people reporting any possible major side-effects.’
He added: ‘This Yellow Card information is not as exact. The reporters are rightly expressing a potential concern, which would then be used to ensure that these vaccines are fully investigated.
‘The ones used in Jersey are all fully licensed by the relevant authorities. To get to that licensing point, they have to go through an incredible number of clinical trials. The vaccine has prevented hundreds of thousands of deaths across the British Isles.’
Emma Ward, a care worker, said her father was incapacitated the day after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine in February 2021.
She said: ‘We spent ten days in hospital, and there was no diagnosis. He didn’t fall, he wasn’t dehydrated, there was no infection. It was too much of a coincidence.’
She reported it to the Yellow Card scheme, as well as the adverse reactions of her clients at the time.
While her father has ‘gradually recovered a little bit’, she said ‘he now has three care visits a day and he’s never been the same.’
She has applied for the UK’s Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, which enables those harmed by listed vaccines to access a one-off tax-free payment of up to £120,000.
However, she was informed that Jersey is not covered by the UK’s scheme.
During a States sitting earlier this year, Health Minister Karen Wilson said Jersey officials were ‘actively engaging with the UK government to explore options for enabling those who may have been harmed by a vaccination against Covid-19 which has been administered in Jersey’.
