Pfizer says it is investigating the death of a Florida doctor who received a dose of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also examining the death of Gregory Michael, a 56-year-old obstetrician who caught fire 16 days earlier.
Pfizer said so far there is no evidence that Michael’s death was caused by the vaccine he developed with German biotechnology company BioNTech.
Pfizer in Manhattan called it an “extremely unusual clinical case” of a condition called severe thrombocytopenia, which limits the body’s ability to clot blood and stop internal bleeding.
“So far, millions of people have been vaccinated and we are closely monitoring all adverse events in people receiving our vaccine,” Pfizer spokeswoman Jerica Pitts told a post on Wednesday. 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.
The CDC is also aware of the death and “will assess the situation as more information becomes available,” agency spokesman Tom Skinner told Bloomberg News.
Michael’s wife, Heidi Neckelmann, said in a Facebook post that her husband died of a stroke after spending two weeks in a Miami Beach hospital. She attributed her death to a “strong reaction to the COVID vaccine”, which she said she received on December 18.
“I think people should be aware that side effects can occur, that it’s not good for everyone, and in this case, it has destroyed a beautiful life, a perfect family, and affected so many people in the community.” Neckelmann said in the post, adding that her late husband was a “pro-vaccine lawyer.”
However, Pfizer does not believe there is a link between the vaccine and death based on the vaccine’s clinical trials and “its post-marketing experience so far,” Pitts said.
The Pfizer vaccine is one of two that US officials have eliminated for emergency use as the nation struggles to control the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. The other photo was developed by Massachusetts Modern Biotechnology.
The CDC did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Wednesday.