Haziq Kamaruddin: Malaysia mourns death of Olympic archer at 27; health officials say no link to Covid-19 vaccine
- The two-time Olympian who was trying to qualify for Tokyo died at his home on Friday, having taken leave to be with his family during the Muslim Eid celebrations
- Post mortem says he died of a blocked coronary artery and there is no link to the vaccine that he and other athletes recently received
Malaysia is mourning the death of two-time Olympic archer Haziq Kamaruddin, who died at the age of 27 on Friday morning after collapsing at his home.
Social media erupted with speculation that his death was linked to the Pfizer-BioNTech for Covid-19 he recently received. However, the Healthy Ministry said on Saturday that a postmortem found he had died of a blocked coronary artery and there was no evidence of a link to the vaccine.
Youth and Sports Minister Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican moved immediately to dispel speculation, saying he and other Malaysian athletes also received the first dose of the vaccine on April 13 with the second dose on May 4.
“I and 242 other athletes, including Haziq, had taken the vaccine together,” he said in a Facebook reply on Friday, while urging people to respect the feelings of his loved ones.
He was a member of his country’s recurve team which won silver at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.