PLACER COUNTY (CBS13) – Several agencies are investigating the cause of death of an individual who died on Thursday, hours after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine – the Placer County Sheriff’s Office announced on Saturday.
The sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post that the individual tested positive for the virus in late December.
“The individual received the COVID-19 vaccine several hours before his death on January 21, 2021,” wrote the agency. “The vaccine was not administered by Placer County Public Health.”
The news of a death hours after the vaccine raised doubts and concerns for some Californians like Britni Tucker.
“I am really counting on the vaccine to cure this pandemic. Because I have a 9-month-old daughter that I’m trying to protect, ”said Tucker. “Now I think it is something that I should definitely research further.”
Others, like Eric Parra de Auburn, say they never planned to get it in the first place.
“It was rushed very quickly,” said Parra. “I don’t understand it until I see it works after a while.”
CBS13 spoke with UC Davis infectious disease specialist Dr. Dean Blumberg to ask some general questions about safety measures about the vaccine, as he is not familiar with this specific case.
“All healthcare professionals are making sure to report any worrying adverse events after immunization, even if they are unrelated – just to pick up any kind of signal,” said Dr. Blumberg.
He says the COVID-19 vaccine is not a long shot. He said there was no increase in deaths from vaccines, and thousands of study participants were screened before each vaccine was approved. He also says that after a vaccine, anything can happen. The cause of death is still too early to say.
“They can have other things that are basically random,” he said.
CBS13 also asked Dr. Blumberg – if a person wants to be vaccinated after a positive test for COVID-19, how long should they wait? He said that as long as the individual is no longer infectious and feels good, there is no time limit.
Further details on the person’s death have not been released, but the sheriff’s office said local, state and federal agencies are under investigation.
Earlier this week, a batch of Modern vaccines was withdrawn from use in the state after some people became ill after receiving the vaccine. This batch has already been released for approval and has been reused. It is not clear which vaccine was used in this particular case in Placer County.
According to the sheriff’s office, the Placer County coroner’s office will do an autopsy on Monday.
CBS13 contacted the California Department of Public Health, but only received a statement that said:
“Our thoughts are with the family of the deceased. We take these cases seriously, so we are working with our government partners to investigate the cause. We are working collaboratively and will continue to use data and science to determine how to proceed. ”
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