After 11 tiring months working on the front lines of the South Coast Global Medical Center in Santa Ana, Tim Zook finally felt hopeful.
The 60-year-old X-ray technician watched positive COVID-19 patients struggle to breathe, families devastated by the loss and fought his own fears of bringing the deadly virus to his family. After receiving his second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, he immediately shared his enthusiasm on Facebook.
“I’ve never been so excited to take a picture before,” he wrote on January 5, sharing a picture of a band-aid on his arm and his completed COVID-19 vaccination card.
“He worked tirelessly this entire year trying to save the lives of people who were affected by COVID,” said his wife, Rochelle Zook, of Orange. “He came home all year very moved, saddened by the type of death he was witnessing in this community. But he never gave up. He believed that to stop this virus it is necessary to get the vaccine ”.
A few hours after the second dose, he had stomach pains and difficulty breathing. At around 3:30 pm, his colleagues accompanied him to the emergency room to be examined. He sent a message to his wife to let her know that he would be home late.
“Should I be worried?” Rochelle texted back.
“No, absolutely not,” he replied.
She asked if he thought it was a reaction to the vaccine. He said no.
The tests for COVID were negative. A doctor diagnosed him with congestive heart failure. Zook, who was still struggling to breathe, received oxygen and then a BiPAP machine to help deliver air to his lungs. He told his wife that he would be home the next day.
Zook’s health continued to decline. Less than two days later, he had difficulty breathing and had to be placed on a ventilator. He was transferred to the UCI Medical Center in Orange, where his kidney started to fail. On January 9 – four days after entering the South Coast Global emergency room – Zook had to be resurrected three times over the course of several hours. He died that afternoon.
Zook’s family still does not know whether the vaccine played a role in his death, which is being investigated by federal and local agencies. His death was first reported by the Orange County Register. Rochelle Zook insists that her husband’s story should not dissuade anyone from getting the vaccine. She is adamant that he would take the injections again if he could do it again.
“Our message is to get the vaccine. That’s what Tim would say,” she said. “This is how we are going to reduce this horrendous pandemic.”
The Orange County coroner is still working to determine the exact cause of Zook’s death. An Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman said the OC Health Care Agency will be notified if it is determined that there is a correlation with the vaccine.
Any reports of death after vaccine administration are also investigated by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agencies work with healthcare professionals to obtain medical histories and clinical follow-up information as part of their investigation, FDA spokeswoman Abby Capobianco wrote in a statement.
“It is important to note that the reporting of an adverse event is not documentation that a vaccine caused the event,” she added.
Without any concrete answers, Zook’s family hopes that the public health agencies and pharmaceutical companies that developed the vaccines will conduct further research to reduce the adverse effects of the vaccine.
“We want to urge and pressure pharmaceutical companies to investigate his death and do more research,” said Ken Polanco, Rochelle Zook’s cousin. “If we can save a life, then it’s worth it.”
A spokesman for Pfizer and BioNTech said the company is aware of Zook’s death and is also reviewing what happened.
“Our immediate thoughts are with the bereaved family. We closely monitor all of these events and collect relevant information to share with global regulatory authorities,” the company said in a statement. “Based on ongoing safety assessments by Pfizer, BioNTech and health officials, [the vaccine] maintains a positive risk-benefit profile for the prevention of COVID-19 infections. Serious adverse events, including deaths unrelated to the vaccine, are unfortunately likely to occur at a rate similar to what would happen in the general population. “
The FDA has approved Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for emergency use after a well-established evaluation procedure for vaccine safety. Cases of anaphylaxis – a severe allergic reaction to injections that can be fatal – have been extremely rare, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Although no deaths have been linked to vaccines, authorities are investigating at least two other occurrences of people who died after receiving a dose.
In Florida, a 56-year-old doctor developed a severe form of a disease known as acute immune thrombocytopenia, which prevented his blood from clotting properly after receiving the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. He died 16 days later. Authorities are also investigating the death of a person last week in Placer County who had recently received the COVID-19 vaccination.
Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, an epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, said it is important to realize that just because an adverse event followed a vaccination does not necessarily mean it was caused by the vaccine.
“There may be other reasons for someone to get sick, even seriously ill, and to die,” he said. “You have to quantify what the risks are, and with COVID vaccines we are close to about five serious adverse events, such as anaphylaxis, for every million doses delivered, which is very low.”
Kim-Farley emphasized that the vaccines that were developed are safe, effective and are necessary to control the spread of infectious diseases.
“They are not 100% safe or 100% effective, but the main thing to always consider is what would happen in the absence of vaccines. The current pandemic is just that, ”he said.
As they wait for answers, Rochelle Zook clings to happier memories of her 34-year-old husband – a foodie who loved to cook steaks and enjoy a glass of Sonoma’s red wine with her and her three grown children.
At Christmas, the family drove to Bakersfield, where their eldest son Aaron recently bought a home with his fiancee. Tim Zook, who normally cooked, was overjoyed when his son performed a beautiful holiday dinner for the group alone.
“He was so proud to see his eldest son march forward,” said Rochelle Zook. “I saw Tim for the first time in such a happy time. We just kept holding on to it.”
This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.