Man Who Marked SG’s First Vaccine-Related Fatality Was “Otherwise Healthy”, Says State Coroner

By Lara Kramer  •  21 Feb 2023 in News

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On Saturday (February 18), the Ministry of Health stated that Singapore had recorded its first fatality attributed to the Covid-19 vaccine.

The report claims that in June 2021, a 28-year-old Bangladeshi male had received his first dose of the Moderna-Spikevax Covid-19 vaccination, and died of myocarditis 21 days later.

The Singapore state coroner notes that Bangladeshi national Rajib, who worked as a welding supervisor, had worked the day after receiving the jab, but reportedly passed away on July 9, 2021, after collapsing at his work site.

He also noted that the coroner had confirmed Rajib had no known chronic illnesses and had never previously reported being sick at work. The coroner also encouraged companies to refrain from requiring their employees, particularly those engaged in heavy labour, to engage in any intense activity following their immunisation.

As per MOH, the man’s death was determined to be the result of a medical mishap.

“The State Coroner found that on the balance of probabilities, it was likely to be linked to Covid-19 immunisation,” the agency adds.

His family will receive a one-time payout of S$225,000 (≈RM745745) through the ministry’s Vaccination Injury Financial Support Program. This is the maximum sum that can be granted through the programme.

At rates of 0.1 per 100,000 doses for the bivalent vaccines and 1.1 per 100,000 doses for the first vaccination series of the monovalent vaccines, MOH adds that the occurrence of myocarditis is still “rare.”