The person developed the rare neurological disorder Guillain-Barre Syndrome soon after receiving J&J’s Janssen vaccine, after which the person was put on a ventilator and later died, senior scientists said at a news conference. “At the time of illness no other cause could be identified for Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS),” said Professor Hannelie Meyer. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register The person’s age and other personal details were not disclosed for confidentiality reasons. J&J said in an emailed statement that GBS has been associated with the administration of various vaccines and other drugs and can also be triggered by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The company said it strongly supported awareness of the signs and symptoms of rare events to ensure they can be quickly identified and treated effectively. Last July, US authorities added a warning to a fact sheet on J&J’s vaccine saying data suggested there was an increased risk of GBS in the six weeks after vaccination. At the time it noted 100 preliminary reports of GBS in vaccine recipients, including 95 serious cases and one death. read more J&J said at the time of the US warning that it was in discussions with regulators and that the rate of reported GBS cases in Janssen vaccine recipients slightly exceeded the baseline rate. read more “The benefit of vaccination still far outweighs the risk,” Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela, chief executive of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), told reporters. “In our context we have administered about 9 million (doses) of the Janssen vaccine and this is the first causally linked case of GBS.” The European medicines regulator last year added GBS as a potential side effect of AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine, which, like J&J’s, uses viral vector technology. read more South African Health Minister Joe Phaahla told Thursday’s press conference that by mid-July just over 6,200 “adverse events” had been reported to SAHPRA out of the more than 37 million doses of COVID vaccine administered in the country, equivalent to 0.017%. Semete-Makokotlela said the regulator had assessed about 160 deaths since the launch of the COVID vaccination, but had not seen a causal link to the vaccination until now. South Africa has used vaccines from J&J and Pfizer in its COVID vaccination campaign. Development started slowly due to difficulties in securing supplies and protracted negotiations with pharmaceutical companies, but more recently has slowed due to hesitancy. About 46% of the adult population of 40 million are now fully vaccinated. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Alexander Winning Editing by Mark Potter Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
