A Filipino domestic helper in Hong Kong has died 18 days after receiving the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, but there is no evidence to show it was caused by the jab, according to an autopsy.

Jergrace Tabiano Anacleto, 44, was pronounced dead at the Tseung Kwan O Hospital on Sunday after she collapsed at home, Apple Daily learned. She is the first foreign domestic helper to die after receiving a jab.

She received a dose of the BioNTech vaccine on April 21, according to the Department of Health. Preliminary autopsy results showed the cause of death was a rupture of the aorta after an aneurysm, and there was no clinical evidence to show it was caused by the vaccine.

The employer of the victim, commonly known as Grace, declined to comment to Apple Daily out of respect for her family. Grace worked at a residential unit at The Mediterranean in Sai Kung, Apple Daily has learned. Joan, another Filipino domestic helper at the estate who recognized Grace, said she had heard of her death on social media, and that she had heart issues.Grace’s sister Jinalyn, who lives in the Philippines, told Apple Daily that she would wait for a full autopsy report, and Grace would be transported back to her home company through an intermediary company.

Grace, one of five siblings, had worked in Hong Kong for 15 years and had a 22-year-old son, Jinalyn said. She had told her family that she chose to work in Hong Kong as the city felt safe with relatively good benefits, and there were many other Filipinos in the city, Jinalyn said.

Grace did not have any health issues and was keen on keeping fit, according to Jinalyn.

A mass would be held at the St Vincent’s Church in Hang Hau at 10 a.m. on Sunday, as other Filipino domestic helpers mourned her on Facebook.

Cheung Kit-man, chair of the Hong Kong Employment Agencies Association, said that Hong Kong employers would need to buy insurance for Filipino domestic helpers in the city as well as their home country to cover medical fees and the cost for transporting the body back to the Philippines, he said. The insurance would cover transportation costs regardless if the helper dies of illness or suicide.

In the past, the body would take around 10 days to be moved back to the Philippines after an autopsy, Cheung said, but the next flight would already be two weeks later due to flight cuts under the pandemic.

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