MOH rejects call by PPP to temporarily halt Covid-19 jabs

Studies listed in party statement not written by authors cited, or were already debunked

- Salma Khalik

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has issued a strong rebuttal against a call made by the People’s Power Party (PPP) to temporarily suspend Covid-19 vaccination “in response to an increasing number of reports indicating significant adverse effects” of such vaccines.

The PPP had issued the statement on May 29, quoting eight people it named as experts, warning of the dangers of the vaccine.

MOH refuted those claims on June 3, saying that it “categorically rejects these egregious and false claims” by “these so-called experts”.

It also pointed out that the PPP’s list of scientific articles “were mostly from the same group of authors, including some who have been reported to be promoting messages against Covid-19 vaccination”.

The ministry said all vaccines carry some risk, but the risks of getting an infection if unvaccinated are far worse.

“In a pandemic of this nature, excess deaths are inevitable. The primary reason why Singapore recorded one of the lowest excess death rates in the world during the pandemic is (that) the majority of Singaporeans took the vaccines,” it said.

“Excess deaths” refers to higher rates of deaths than would normally be the case.

MOH added that during the wave caused by the JN.1 variant, which peaked in December 2023, the number of people aged 60 years and older who were not vaccinated and needed hospitalisation and/or intensive care was almost double that of their peers who were up to date with their vaccinations.

The ministry acknowledged that the mRNA vaccine can cause myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis, or the swelling of the tissue surrounding the heart, in young men aged 18 to 29 years.