SINGAPORE, April 27 — Preliminary investigations by Changi General Hospital (CGH), where a 48-year-old man has been treated for stroke after getting his Covid-19 vaccination, found that his medical condition was not caused by the jab.
The hospital was responding to an April 22 Facebook post by Jo-ann Tan which claimed that her brother-in-law had suffered three strokes within two days of receiving his first dose of the vaccine on April 18.
“Our preliminary assessment does not indicate Covid-19 vaccination as the cause (of his condition),” CGH wrote in a Facebook post on Friday (April 23)
In response to queries from TODAY, a CGH spokesman said on Monday that it is unable to comment further “out of respect for patient confidentiality”.
“Our care team is committed to and focused on providing care and support for our patients,” the spokesman said.
“We have also reached out to the family to understand and address any concerns they may have.”
In her post, which had been shared more than 740 times by Monday evening, Tan said her brother-in-law was feeling fine after the vaccination until six hours later when he felt weak and giddy and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance because he was too weak to be moved.
There, his family was informed that he suffered a stroke and impairment of his vision, although it was not known if the loss was temporary or permanent.
Tan said he suffered his third stroke two days later and later that evening, his condition worsened and he had to undergo an emergency brain surgery to reduce the pressure on his head.
She did not say when he had suffered a second stroke.
“(The) family was in extreme stress and distraught, we felt alone,” she wrote.
In hopes of getting support, Tan said she contacted the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) Covid-19 emergency hotline and was asked if he had an underlying medical condition, before being directed to the Health Sciences Authority.
Tan said her family is concerned about the mounting medical bills, especially since he was placed in the medical intensive care unit and the surgical intensive care unit since he was admitted.
She has also since set up a public Facebook page to share updates on his condition.
In her latest post on Sunday, she said he was more responsive and could move his left leg, a little of his right hand and open his eyes when she talked to him.
“Every improvement is a milestone, an encouragement to us,” she wrote.
She added that she has requested a second opinion from a brain and cardiovascular specialist on his condition and said CGH hospital is now facilitating the request. — TODAY
