SA’s first nurse to get jab dies, but hospital says there is no link

The Karl Bremer Hospital has confirmed that staffer Iris Adams – who was the first nurse to receive the Covid vaccine in South Africa – has died, but that this was not as a result of the jab.

“We can confirm that Sister Iris Adams has sadly died. She was a valued member of our team and an advocate for our vaccination programme. Adams did not die due to the Covid vaccine,” the hospital said on Wednesday in a statement.

The hospital also continued to encourage community members to get their vaccines.

“It remains the best defence against the virus, and it can reduce the chances of serious illness, hospitalisation and death due to Covid,” it said.

Earlier this week, the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) tweeted: “SA’s first nurse to accept a Covid vaccine has since died. Government and the hysterical ‘vaxx everyone’ group will refuse to link it to the vaxx even when it’s clear.

“This is not an isolated instance and judging from what’s happening in other countries, SA’s truth remains hidden.”

When contacted by The Citizen, though, the ACDP’s national elections manager, Grant Haskin, said the party had simply reshared information that was already circulating on social media.

“This was shared on social media already a couple of weeks ago. We don’t have any more details than what we shared and what is being claimed, it’s something we haven’t investigated ourselves – that’s something the health department needs to confirm,” he said.

National health spokesperson Popo Maja said yesterday that “so far, none of the deaths that were reported have been caused by vaccination”.

Epidemiologist Dr Jo Barnes, meanwhile, said the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) carefully followed up any cases where there was a suspicion that the vaccination may have been involved in the person’s death.

“As far as I know, there has not been a case in South Africa where a person died directly of the vaccination.

“Most of the very low number of deaths, below 50 for the millions of persons vaccinated if I remember correctly, occurred in persons with serious co-morbidities,” she said.

Barnes said people who contracted Covid shortly after vaccination usually had the virus before they received the vaccine.

“People are at their most infectious for a couple of days before they show symptoms, so they are not aware that they are already infected,” she said.

The epidemiologist said it was highly unethical for a political party to use their election platform to spread such unverified allegations to their constituency during a pandemic.

“The only way South Africa will be able to get itself out of this massive economic and health crisis is to vaccinate the
population.

“Vaccination is not just a matter of personal choice.

“Refusing vaccination endangers the lives of the people dependent on those with such unfounded opinions and on their ability to earn a living,” said Barnes.