Covid-19 | Vaccination insurance will not cover facial nerve paralysis case: SSM

The insurance program, purchased by the SAR government for local inoculation participants, will not cover the city’s second serious adverse event, which involved a 27-year-old male being afflicted with facial nerve paralysis following the inoculation.
The statement was made by Dr Tai Wa Hou, coordinator of the Health Bureau’s (SSM) Covid-19 Vaccination Operation, at yesterday’s Covid-19 media briefing.
The current vaccination insurance scheme covers local residents only for “death or severe physical disability,” confirmed to be caused by Covid-19 vaccines, he added.
“The facial nerve paralysis, in this case, is not considered as severe physical disability and thus will not be covered,” Tai explained.
In addition, the link between the vaccination and facial nerve paralysis has not been confirmed as yet, Tai explained. The dedicated medical team has not yet come together for the scheduled meeting to make a conclusion for the incident’s cause, he said.
“The meeting is set to be held in the coming days,” Tai said and vowed that the investigation results as to whether the incident is related to mRNA vaccine will be laid bare to the public in due course.
If the link between facial paralysis, also known as Bell’s palsy, and vaccination is confirmed in the aforementioned case, the SSM will provide guidelines for the concerned individual regarding the inoculation with the second dose.
“If it’s proven as a coincidental event, the individual can for sure proceed with the original plan to take the second jabs,” he added.
Leong Iek Hou, coordinator at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, emphasized that “the adverse event” is not deemed identical to “the side effects” following the jabs.
As of 4 p.m. yesterday, the event was the second among the city’s 353 reported adverse events after vaccination.
The first case was reported on April 16. The involved individual received the first dose of BioNTech-produced mRNA vaccine on March 20 and developed a slight headache on April 10 and manifested more serious symptoms on April 14, such as facial asymmetry, tearing, and difficulty in closing his eyelids.
The patient was admitted to the Kiang Wu Hospital on April 14 and discharged a day later on April 15.
“In general, it takes around three to six months for the symptoms of facial nerve paralysis to go away,” Tai said.
Bell’s palsy is not considered as “rare” in Macau, with an incidence ratio of two out of 100,000 people, Tai said.