President Yoweri Museveni’s government, through drugs regulator National Drug Authority (NDA), has spoken out on reports that a medical student died days after taking a Covid19 vaccine jab.
The deceased has been identified as Rosette Kyarikunda, a final year medical student at Busitema University.
Available reports indicate that Kyarikunda took her Astrazeneca jab on August 17.
But she later developed severe symptoms, including head-splitting headache and general body weakness.
Through her social media account, Kyarikunda complained of the adverse effects of the vaccine.
“This Corona Vaccine wants to take my life surely. I have never experienced this kind of headache and chest pain for the years I have spent on earth planet. May God have mercy,” she wrote.
The Federation of Uganda Medical Students’ Associations (Fumsa) would later confirm the death of Kyarikunda.
“She received her first covid-AstraZeneca jab and developed mild headache and malaise, and on Wednesday (Aug 25), her condition worsened and was admitted and managed at Mbale Regional Referal Hospital until Sunday when she was referred to Kirudu Hospital because her situation was worsening,” Fumsa said in a statement.
“She was then admitted and put in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after developing a multi-organ failure and as of today (August 28), has been in coma for more than 36 hours and was put on dialysis yesterday, that wasn’t completed because her scrum albumin levels were very low, she received henceforth a dose of albumin.”
She would later succumb to multiple organ failure.
Now, Abiaz Rwamwiri, the spokesperson of the NDA, has confirmed that a committee of following up on adverse effects occasioned by Covid19 vaccines is investigating Kyarikunda’s case.
Speaking at the Uganda Media Centre on September 02, Rwamwiri noted that more tests would be carried out before expert come up with a comprehensive statement on the cause of death of the medical student.
“There is a case of one of our students who passed on after immunization. We request members of the press to wait until the investigations are done. We sympathize with the family of Rosette,” said Rwamwiri.
“All the vaccines that have come to the country have been analyzed. We also monitor the side effects. We follow cases. In recent times, we have been dealing with mild cases of side effects. I urge the public to get vaccinated.”
He also urged Ugandans to report any adverse effects experienced as a result of Covid19 vaccines administered to them.
