What happens if a death occurs after vaccination?
In New Zealand, adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) are reported to the Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring (CARM).
An Adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) is an untoward medical event which follows immunisation and does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the administration of the vaccine.
A medical assessor evaluates each report to determine whether there is a plausible association between the adverse reaction and a vaccine, and those confirmed as likely AEFI are investigated further by Medsafe. This is important as, by chance, some people will experience new illnesses or die from a pre-existing condition shortly after vaccination. As part of the review process, all adverse events that may be associated with a vaccine are reviewed by an independent safety monitoring board. Deaths are also referred to the Coroner for determination of cause of death. This can be a lengthy process so deaths can be under investigation for some time.
Additionally, to determine if there are any specific trends or patterns that might indicate a safety concern, it is important to compare natural death rates to observed death rates following vaccination. International collaboration is also important to monitor for very rare events and potential safety concerns.
For more information about vaccine safety monitoring see https://www.immune.org.nz/vaccines/vaccine-safety
Medsafe safety reports showed that, as of 28 August 2021, a total of 40 deaths had been reported following COVID-19 vaccination in New Zealand. Of these, 19 were deemed not likely related to the vaccine, five could not be assessed due to insufficient information and 15 remain under investigation, as described above. One death has been considered likely due to vaccine-induced myocarditis, a known rare side effect of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, the cause of death is yet to be determined by the Coroner. As might be anticipated, most deaths (34 out of 40) have been in people aged 60-79 and over 80 years, and no deaths have been reported in people under 30.
To date, Medsafe has reported the observed number of deaths reported after COVID-19 vaccination is actually less than the expected number of natural deaths.
In the US, healthcare providers are required to report any death after COVID-19 vaccination, whether or not it is deemed likely to be related to vaccine administration. Over 380 million COVID-19 vaccines were administered from December 14 2020 and September 13 2021 and there were 7,653 deaths reported (0.002% of those vaccinated). A review of available clinical information has not established any causal link between Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination and death.
External links
- https://www.medsafe.govt.nz/COVID-19/safety-monitoring.asp
- https://www.medsafe.govt.nz/COVID-19/vaccine-report-overview.asp
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-event…