Khairy to meet parents of teen who died 18 days after first Covid-19 jab

KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 — Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has disclosed that he will meet the parents of 13-year-old Rivenesh Kumar who died last month after receiving his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

He said the meeting will take place tomorrow, adding that his ministry had only received the Chemistry Department’s report on the matter.

The Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (Mosti) is in charge of the Chemistry Department.

“We were waiting for a report from the Chemistry Department under Mosti, which we received today, and that’s why I'm meeting with the parents tomorrow,” he said after launching World Hearing Day 2022 at Serdang Hospital this morning.

Khairy was asked about the outcome of the teen’s post-mortem examination, but said he cannot make it public without the consent of the parents Naresh Kumar and Vijaya Rani.

He was also asked why the post-mortem report took so long.

The minister explained that there were strict rules governing post-mortems and that there were more protocols to observe for those concerning suspected Covid-19 deaths as blood and tissue samples had to be investigated in the laboratories.

“This is because we want to ensure that the investigation was done thoroughly, not just post-mortem but testing blood and tissue samples in labs,” he added.

Rivenesh was reported by the New Straits Times to have died on February 3, just 18 days after receiving his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on January 16 at the Klinik Kesihatan in Presint 18, Putrajaya.

According to NST’s February 21 news report, Rivenesh died after collapsing inside a lift while on his way to a karate lesson that day. His father Naresh rushed his son to the Kajang Hospital where the latter was pronounced dead.

The newspaper also reported his parents saying the boy was an active and healthy child who did not have any health problems since he was born.