A report on the cause of death of a four-month-old baby who died allegedly after being vaccinated at Moto'otua in May of this year can only be made public after the Coroner's Inquest. 

In response to queries from this newspaper last week, the Director General of Health, Aiono Professor Alec Ekeroma said the ministry had completed its own investigation into the matter. 

However, they received instructions from the Police Commissioner against disclosing any information on their investigation and report as it is being labeled as a "Coroner's case". 

"We have submitted all our papers and reports from our investigation to the coroner," said Aiono. 

"But we have been asked by the Police Commissioner to refrain from disclosing any information on the matter as it is now a coroner's case and we must wait for the inquest. 

"Only then we can make the outcome of our investigation public and I believe all the information will come from the Coroner after the Inquest."

In May of this year, the coroner ordered a post-mortem to determine the cause of death of the four-month-old baby. 

The matter was referred to the Ministry of Police, Prisons and Corrections Services (M.P.P.C.S.) for investigation and this newspaper understands that the Fijian forensic pathologist had completed the post-mortem on the body of the four-month-old last month. 

Following the unfortunate incident, the Ministry of Health (M.O.H.) issued a public statement to notify the public about what happened. 

Signed by the Director General of Health, Aiono, the statement provided a summary of the preliminary investigation conducted by senior M.O.H. officials. 

"The Ministry has a system in place to monitor, investigate, clarify, and report on whether an unfortunate event such as this is due to vaccination or not, given that the baby was also vaccinated earlier during the day," the statement reads. 

"This system includes an internal and external formal investigation by the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, which is being planned. However, we would like to share the following information based on the preliminary investigation conducted by the Senior Ministry of Health Officials. 

"The baby received vaccination due at 14 weeks old, as per immunisation schedule, at our Moto'otua site. Six (6) hours later, the baby was brought to the emergency department at the hospital in critical condition.). Despite swift action by the medical team, including resuscitation, the baby, unfortunately, passed away. 

"Other infants who were vaccinated from the same batch of vaccines, including the deceased baby’s twin, have not had any adverse reactions or been brought to the hospital for treatment or for any other medical concerns. The Ministry of Health continues to follow up closely with those families out of an abundance of care and caution and to provide needed support. 

"It has been confirmed that the nurses who administered the vaccines had followed all the standard procedures accordingly in the care, storage, and administration of the vaccines."

Aiono then gave assurance that the M.O.H. was thoroughly investigating the matter. 

"We understand that the public may be concerned as to the cause of the unfortunate loss of life of this infant. We wish to reassure the public that the Ministry is investigating this matter and continues to ensure the proper care, storage, and administration of vaccines through intensive training, monitoring, and evaluation to ensure the safety of our people and to prevent incidents like the unfortunate deaths of the two infants in 2018."

The Ministry emphasised that nearly 350,000 vaccinations for COVID-19 have been safely administered and more than 500,000 childhood vaccinations have also been safely administered since 2019 in Samoa.

"We reaffirm the safety and effectiveness of these WHO-approved vaccines used in the Ministry’s immunization program which have been used for many decades worldwide. WHO-approved vaccines go through robust clinical trials and are only approved for use in the wider population after their safety and efficacy have been rigorously tested. 

"The Ministry will continue its vaccination program and strongly urges the public to bring all children for vaccination as per the vaccination schedule outlined in the Child Health Book. 

"This is especially important given the threat of the outbreak in American Samoa. The Ministry will be supporting and cooperating with the investigating teams from the World Health Organization and UNICEF, who will determine whether this unfortunate event is related to the vaccine or coincidental in nature. 

"The public will be updated regularly as the investigation continues. The case has also been referred to the coroner."