KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry (MOH) has advised medical practitioners in the country to temporarily stop the use of two influenza vaccines following reports of deaths in South Korea which may be linked to the products.
Pharmaceutical Services senior director Datin Dr Faridah Aryani Md Yusof said the advise to stop the use of SKYCellflu Quadrivalent and Vaxigrip Tetra was a precautionary measure.
"MOH takes note of MOH Circular No. 214/2020 issued by the Health Science Authority (HSA), Singapore on Oct 25, entitled 'Temporary Cessation on The Use of Two Influenza Vaccines'.
"There are nine influenza vaccine products registered with the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) including the two influenza vaccine products linked to the cases of death in South Korea," she said in a statement today.
However, according to Dr Faridah Aryani, only the Vaxigrip Tetra, Suspension for Injection in Pre-filled Syringe is provided at the ministry's health facilities.
She said the manufacturer of Vaxigrip Tetra, Sanofi Pasteur, had also informed that the batch number of products used in South Korea is not available in other markets, including Malaysia.
"So far, no deaths have been reported in the country with regard to influenza vaccines (quadrivalent)," she said.
Dr Faridah Aryani said MOH also had quality monitoring programmes in place and practised pharmacovigilance to ensure the quality, safety and effectiveness of medicines.
She said the MOH would update the public on the situation as and when further information was obtained. – Bernama