THE parents of a teenage boy who died weeks after getting a Covid-19 jab want to know what caused the death of whom they said was a healthy 13-year-old boy.

Vijayarani Govindan told The Malaysian Insight that they were baffled that the cause of death of their only son, Revnesh Kumar, 13, is yet to be known even after a post-mortem.

The death certificate showed the cause of death is “pending laboratory investigation’‘.

“Even more shocking, we were told that the report could take up to six months to be prepared. That is a long time.

“They could figure out so many things (from the post-mortem), even the food he consumed, but not the reason for death. That surprises me,” the housewife told The Malaysian Insight.

Vijayarani said Ravnesh received his first Pfizer vaccine shot on December 30, 2021 at Klinik Kesihatan in Precinct 18, Putrajaya.

On January 16, when Ravnesh was on the way to karate class, accompanied by his father, L. Naresh Kumar, he collapsed in the lift and was rushed to Kajang Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had then said the ministry was waiting for the post-mortem report.

Noor Hisham also said that the state health department was working closely with the clinicians and the forensic team in the investigation into the death.

Vijayarani and her husband have another child, an 11-year-old daughter.

“As a mother, I know that my son was healthy.

“He did not have any underlying diseases nor had he been admitted to hospital for sickness before this. He was a healthy boy but today I’ve lost him and I strongly believe it was the vaccination,” she said, weeping.

The family said they do not trust the Health Ministry to handle the investigation into their son’s sudden death and that they were considering appointing a private specialist, if allowed, to get a second opinion on the laboratory findings.

“Everything is under the Ministry of Health, be it the vaccination, the reporting of side effects, the agency that studies it. Can we expect transparency?

“I’m not from a well-to-do family but if people are willing to help and if there is an option to do so, then we will consider (appointing a private pathologist/histopathologist).

“We have lost our only son. We will not get our son back but we deserve to know the truth and justice must be served,” the housewife said.

The family will not be able to ask for another post-mortem as they have cremated the body according to Hindu custom.

They are now relying on the samples taken by the forensic specialist during the post-mortem in Kajang Hospital.

Consultant histopathologist Dr Manimalar Selvi Naicker, in a tweet on the death of Ravnesh, said Malaysia might not have the expertise to evaluate post-vaccination deaths.

She said there were no protocols available and she asked for Ravnesh’s investigation to be made public.

“Malaysia may not have the expertise to evaluate these types of cases. I still cannot find post-vax deaths post-mortem protocols online for histopathologist to review.

“Please ask for an open inquest. The histopathology findings should be reviewed by all Malaysian histopathologists,” she tweeted.

Klang MP Charles Santiago, who showed concern over Ravnesh’s death, asked the Health Ministry to respond to Manimalar’s claims.

Pressured to vaccinate

Vijayarani said the parents were “pressured” to inoculate her son, who had been reluctant to get the jab.

She said Ravnesh’s class teacher said the school would bar him from the premises if he was not vaccinated.

“We decided to vaccinate our son just because his school teacher said he could not attend classes if he was not jabbed.

“I then brought him to Putrajaya to get the jab but during the journey, he was reluctant.

“I had to persuade my son to get jabbed because his ambition was to become a policeman. I didn’t want him to miss schooling,” she said. 

Last year, the Education Ministry said they would not stop unvaccinated students from going to school.

Vijayarani said she consulted a doctor at the vaccination centre prior to her son’s inoculation, where she said she was told the vaccine carried no major risks but could have mild side effects such as fever, headache and nausea.

She said that the nurse at the vaccination counter was very unpleasant and that she did not allow her to take photos or video record her son’s vaccination process.

“The nurse was very rude to me and she was also not pleasant to my son, who was already scared of being jabbed

“When I wanted to take photos (of the vaccination process), she said that it was not allowed.

“The nurse also did not show me the syringe, the vial, the expiry date of the vaccine. She just proceeded to jab my son. So I don’t actually know what she injected,” Vijayarani said.

After her son’s death, Vijayarani said she went to make a report at the clinic where the shot was administered.

She said she was given the runaround at the clinic.

“I went to the clinic wanting to make a report on my son’s death but there was no proper process. 

“I was told to go to various counters but finally could not make a report because I was told to wait six months until the post-mortem findings were released. I was also told that there were no specific counters to make complaints about vaccinations,” she said.

Since Vijayarani posted a video online alleging that her son died after a Covid-19 vaccine, she said that a number of people from the Health Ministry contacted her expressing concern.

“Initially they did not want to entertain my complaint but when I made a video on the issues, so many of them from the Health Ministry contacted me.

“They even wanted to meet me to discuss matters,” she said.

The video was posted by a human rights group Malaysia Tamilar Munnetra Kalagam. The video has subsequently been removed.

The Health Ministry has said that there have been no deaths directly linked to the Covid-19 vaccination.

Although the ministry admitted that some could experience severe side effects after vaccination, it dismissed the likelihood of one dying from the vaccine.

Recently, the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency said 44 cases of suspected deaths from adverse events following Covid-19 immunisation have been reported since the rollout of Covid-19 booster shots in the country.

NPRA director Dr Roshayati Mohammad Sani said half of the reported deaths had nothing to do with the jabs, while the remaining cases were still under probe. – February 26, 2022.