I filed several questions for the Minister for Health regarding the overdose of Covid-19 vaccines administered to two patients at a clinic in September. The clinic is located in my ward of Bedok Reservoir-Punggol in Aljunied GRC, so that naturally got me concerned.
I noted that the incident occurred on Sept 15, but MOH was alerted only on Sept 19 — a four-day delay. I was concerned that a crucial window of time, where emergency actions need to be taken, may be lost if there is a delay in reporting such incidents.
I also asked the Senior Minister for State for Health how soon clinics must notify the affected patients and extend emergency assistance to them.
Finally, I asked if there are any penalties for non-reporting or late reporting.
These were the questions I filed:
*3541: To ask the Minister for Health (a) how many overdoses and underdoses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to patients respectively since the start of the vaccination programme; (b) whether clinics are required to immediately report each incident as they occur to (i) the Ministry and (ii) the affected patients; (c) how many patients have been affected by these incidents; and (d) of these, how many were children.
*3522: To ask the Minister for Health (a) when will the result of the investigation into the overdose of the COVID-19 vaccines administered at the ProHealth Medical Group’s Hougang clinic be made public; (b) what is the maximum duration of hospitalisation for any patient that has been hospitalised in Singapore as a result of an overdose of a COVID-19 vaccine; and (c) what further safeguards will be put in place to avoid a further repetition of such incidents.
I asked these supplementary questions in Parliament:
Mr Speaker, these incidents occurred in a clinic in the Bedok Reservoir-Punggol ward of Aljunied GRC, so I am naturally quite concerned about this.
The incident occurred on Sept 15, but MOH was alerted only on Sept 19 — a four-day delay.
I am concerned that a crucial window of time, where emergency actions need to be taken, may be lost if there is a delay in reporting such incidents.
The SMS (Senior Minister of State) said just now that they must report no more than 3 hours after the incidents happen. So clearly this is something the MOH will be investigating.
Can I ask the SMS how soon must clinics notify the affected patients and extend emergency assistance to them?
Are there any penalties for non-reporting or late reporting?
