Pfizer Inc. and federal health officials are investigating the death of a medical worker 16 days after the person received the company’s first dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
So far, the evidence does not suggest a connection, Pfizer said in a statement Tuesday. The Florida doctor has developed a rare disorder called severe thrombocytopenia that decreases the body’s ability to clot the blood and stop internal bleeding.
Pfizer cited its clinical trials and data collected from US licensed vaccination in its initial conclusion that the evidence does not suggest a causal association with the shot it developed with that of Germany. BioNTech SE. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said he was aware of the death and “will assess the situation as more information becomes available,” according to spokesman Tom Skinner.
“To date, millions of people have been vaccinated and we are closely monitoring all adverse events in people who receive our vaccine,” Pfizer said in a statement. It is important to note that serious adverse events, including unrelated vaccine deaths, are unfortunately likely to occur at a rate similar to that of the general population.
Pfizer shares fell 2% to $ 37.03 at 3:14 p.m. on trading in New York on a day when the company He also said that adjusted earnings for 2021 will be between $ 3 and $ 3.10 per share, less than analysts expected.
The New York Times first reported news of the death of Gregory Michael, a 56-year-old obstetrician and gynecologist based in Miami Beach. The Times quoted a Facebook post written on January 5 by his wife, Heidi Neckelmann, who said that Michael died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was authorized for emergency use in the United States on December 14, with health workers and long-term care workers being the first in line to get the shot. To date, 9.27 million photographs have been administered of this vaccine and a second approved vaccine developed by Moderna Inc., according to a state-by-state balance sheet by Bloomberg and data from the CDC.
The CDC, along with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other federal agencies, regularly review Covid-19 vaccine safety monitoring data and share their findings with a group of vaccine safety experts who provide independent guidance to federal officials, according to the CDC. Skinner.
“Our thoughts are with the family at this heartbreaking time,” Skinner said.
– With the assistance of Michelle Fay Cortez