THE Covid-19 Vaccine Fund aimed at helping those who suffered serious side effects after vaccination has not been used since most after-effect cases were mild, said Health Minister Dr Adham Baba.

“Out of the 8.5 million vaccine doses given out, most of the complaints were about headaches, fatigue and swelling at the injected area,” said the health minister during his weekly press briefing today.

“For every 1,000 doses there were, only 1.4 reported side effects and only 0.07% of these cases were considered serious enough to require hospitalisation.”

Of this, Adham said, most of them only required a short stay at the hospital for treatment and monitoring.

“Hence, we have not used the Covid-19 Vaccine Fund yet,” he added.

In March 2021, the government announced that it would provide a start-up fund of RM10 million under the National Disaster Relief Trust Fund managed by the National Disaster Management Agency to pay special financial assistance for any harmful effects from vaccination.

The government had set up the fund in May with assistance comprising two categories – RM50,000 for recipients who received serious side effects and RM500,000 in the event of permanent disability or death due to the Covid-19 vaccine. – July 5, 2021.