New Zealand woman dies after receiving Pfizer Covid vaccine

Wellington: On Monday, authorities in New Zealand reported the country’s first recorded death linked to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. After an independent vaccine safety monitoring board reviewed information on the death of a woman who received the COVID-19 vaccine, the health ministry released the information. The ministry did not give the woman’s age in its statement.

The board determined that the woman’s death was caused by myocarditis, a rare side effect of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the statement. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle that can impair the organ’s ability to pump blood and cause changes in heart rhythm. ‘This is the first case in New Zealand where a death in the days following vaccination has been linked to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine,’ the health ministry said.

In response to an emailed request for comment, the Pfizer media team in New Zealand did not respond immediately. Health ministry officials said the case has been referred to the coroner and the cause of death has not been determined.

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However, the independent board did consider that the vaccination was probably to blame for the myocarditis. In addition, the board noted that other issues could have occurred at the same time which may have influenced the outcome following vaccination. ‘The benefits of vaccination with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine continue to greatly outweigh the risk of both COVID-19 infection and vaccine side effects, including myocarditis,’ it added.

Pfizer/BioNTech, Janssen, and AstraZeneca vaccines have so far been provisionally approved by New Zealand authorities. The Pfizer vaccine, however, is the only vaccine approved for public use.

After nearly six months of being virus-free, New Zealand is currently dealing with an outbreak of COVID-19’s Delta variant. On Monday, it reported 53 new cases, bringing the total number of infections in the current outbreak to 562. Earlier this month, a nationwide lockdown was implemented to prevent the spread of the Delta variant.