The Health Minister Benjamin Kumbour has challenged critics who say the H1N1 vaccine is a killer to produce their evidence.
Since May when the government took delivery of the vaccine there have been numerous complaints that the drug has serious side effects.
The complaints have ranged from headaches and weak muscles to asthma.
Dr Kumbour says the reports are misleading.
“Nothing is worse than misleading the public. If I got any technical advice after the review that there were unexpected adverse effects after the vaccination that is what I’ll put to the public.
“It would have been very irresponsible on my part to rush to make an announcement without any verification and scientific evidence that the vaccine was safe. I can say that for sure because there is now written evidence that the vaccine was safe.
“I guess that the lesson that we have learned is if it’s even [means] one sentence to the media that we are going to even come out in the next two or three weeks after a review to address this issue; perhaps that is what we needed to do,” he said.
The Health Minister’s comment comes after the family of a 15-year-old pregnant girl who gave birth to a premature baby and died shortly is blamed the death of the girl on the vaccine.
Dr Kumbour has however played down the allegation saying investigations had established that the girl did not even take the medicine.
“What we know as evidence of the 15-year-old – I don’t know whether to say pregnant child or pregnant mother – that could not carry the baby during the nine months and had premature delivery died not as a result of the vaccine,” he said.
Nevertheless the Health Minister concedes the complaints coming up could have been avoided if sufficient education was provided ahead of the exercise.
