Cry of family whose son died after ‘cancerous Covid-19 jab’

A 17-year-old boy from Mwele village in Rabai, Kilifi county, has succumbed to what his family suspect to be effects of a Covid-19 vaccine jab he received last year.

Emmanuel Chiringa’s left upper arm developed a swelling immediately after receiving the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine last  year February, which later turned cancerous.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Health confirmed it has received three reports on similar cases which are under investigation by the Department of Pharmacovigilance at the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB).

Acting Director of Medical Services Andrew Mulwa said the ministry will give a comprehensive statement soon.

Similar reports

 “Yes, we have received information with similar reporting, and investigations are ongoing by the department that detects, reports and monitors adverse drug reactions at the PPB. Once we are sure of the problem, we will communicate,” he said.

Before his death, Chiringa was admitted to Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital for over a month where doctors conducted several tests on him. His mother, Medza Magongo, said he died several minutes after 4pm on Sunday.

The teenager was admitted to the hospital in Mombasa County in January after the Kilifi County government pledged to foot the medical bills. But the family claims the county government abandoned them immediately thereafter.

“My son’s condition was deteriorating and we had totally run out of funds for his treatment. We had to conduct fundraisers in the community before the county government took up the matter. When he was admitted for the first time at the hospital  last year, we were requested to do an MRI scan but we had no money. The county government of Kilifi said they would cater for that but the MRI was not done. We received very little communication from them. While at the hospital, he received only painkillers. Every day I watched him  reel in pain while his health,” she said.

The County Government of Kilifi, through director of communication Karen Knaust, stated that Chiringa had developed a cancerous tumor. “It’s a very aggressive cancer. The surgery had to be aborted, as it would lead to excessive blood loss from the tumor. To conduct surgery, the tumor must first be shrunk through chemotherapy. Yet the doses of chemo needed  to shrink the tumor would be lethal to the boy,” reads the communication.The doctors consulted locally and externally and no contrary opinion was given”.

Chiringa received the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine while a student at Mwele Primary School in February last year. Two days later, there was still pain on the vaccination spot. His hand started feeling heavy and immobile. He reported the matter to Kombeni dispensary where he had received the jab.

Given painkillers

He was given painkillers and assured that the pain would subside. In May, when the pain persisted and the arm started to swell, he went to Rabai sub-county hospital from where he was referred to Mariakani sub-county hospital for an X-ray.

“After the first X-ray, they said the needle had touched the bone but we should wait for the doctor. The doctor ordered for another X-ray and the results were” “there is no issue”. We were given some medicine and went home,” recalls his mother.

As the condition worsened, the boy was taken to Mariakani again, then to Kilifi referral hospital, and then Coast General. “After we failed to raise money for an MRI, he was discharged in December,” she says.