New Zealand’s COVID-19 vaccine Independent Safety Monitoring Board (CV-ISMB) announced its first death linked to Pfizer’s vaccine against the coronavirus. After inoculation, a woman suffered myocarditis, which is a rare side effect related to an inflammation in the heart muscle.
Health care professionals and consumers have been advised to heighten their awareness of myocarditis and pericarditis. Both can occur after the COVID-19 vaccines.
The New Zealand Ministry of Health said in a statement: “The CV-ISMB extends their sympathies to the woman’s family and friends during this difficult time and thanks the family for their assistance with this investigation.”
While this is the first time that New Zealand has had a death related to the Pfizer vaccine, there have been more deaths that, even if not directly related to the vaccine, happened after the people got vaccinated.
John Tait, the chair of the CV-ISMB, told the Hill that he is eager to invest in more research and share the findings with the people because of the seriousness of vaccine-induced conditions, like myocarditis.
The John Hopkins University COVID-19 tracker shows that only 22 percent of people in New Zealand have been vaccinated. So far, the country has reported 3,500 covid cases and 26 deaths.
