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Malaysia has approved the use of two South Korean flu vaccines after a temporary ban following a safety assessment, Malaysian Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
Taking into account information from the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), safety reports and information from international regulatory bodies, the Malaysian National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency cleared the use of the products, Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement.
"The KDCA has confirmed that such occurrences are very low, to be connected to influenza vaccines as the cause of death as reported," he said, "KDCA also confirms that no particular brand, manufacturer or batch of vaccines has been connected with any of the deaths."
He added that 1.5 million doses of South Korean vaccines have been imported into Malaysia as of October and no deaths have been reported as a result of any flu vaccine in the country.
Malaysia last week announced a temporary suspension of the use of two influenza vaccines, namely SKYCellflu Quadrivalent and VaxigripTetra as a precautionary measure after a number of deaths following flu shots in South Korea.
South Korea's health authorities decided on Oct. 26 to continue its flu vaccination program across the country as the suspected deaths after getting flu shots were found to have very little link to inoculation.
The KDCA said there was a very little possibility for any link between flu vaccination and deaths, noting that it will continue its nationwide flu vaccination program.
The program came as a part of efforts to prevent the so-called "twindemic" of COVID-19 and flu during the winter influenza season.
