California health worker dies after second dose of COVID vaccine, investigations underway – East Bay Times

Tim Zook’s last post on Facebook was brimming with optimism. “I’ve never been so excited to take a picture before,” he wrote on January 5, above a picture of the band-aid on his arm and his COVID-19 vaccination card. “Now I am fully vaccinated after receiving my 2nd dose from Pfizer.”

Zook, 60, was an X-ray technologist at the South Coast Global Medical Center in Santa Ana. A few hours later, he had stomach problems and difficulty breathing. Around 3:30 pm, it was so bad that his co-workers took him to the emergency room. “Should I be worried?” his wife, Rochelle, texted when she received the news. “No, absolutely not,” he replied. “Do you think this is a direct result of the vaccine?” she typed. “No, no,” he said. “I’m not sure what. But do not worry. “

COVID was suspected and a diagnosis of congestive heart failure. Zook received oxygen and – just four hours later – a BiPAP machine to help push the air into his lungs. Several tests were negative for COVID.

Shortly after midnight on January 7, the hospital called. Zook was in an induced coma and on a respirator to help him breathe. But his blood pressure soon dropped and he was transferred to UC Irvine Medical Center. “On Friday, I get a call: ‘Your kidneys are failing. He needs to be on dialysis. If not, he could die – but there is also a chance that he might have a heart attack or stroke on dialysis because his blood pressure is too low, ”said Rochelle Zook.

At 4 am on Saturday, January 9, Zook had switched to “blue code” twice and was rescued from the brink of death. There was a third blue code in the afternoon. “They said that if he passed the blue code for the fourth time, he would have brain damage and be a vegetable if he survives,” said Rochelle Zook.

Later that day, Tim Zook died.

Reaction? But without guilt

“We are not blaming any pharmaceutical company,” said Rochelle Zook, an Orange resident. “My husband loved what he did. He worked in hospitals for 36 and a half years. He believed in vaccines. I’m sure he would get the vaccine again and would like the public to get it.

“But when someone shows symptoms 2 and a half hours after the vaccine, that is a reaction. What else could have happened? We would like the public to know what happened to Tim, so that he didn’t die in vain. Serious reactions are rare. In reality, COVID is a far more deadly force than the reactions of the potential vaccine itself.

“The message is, stay safe, get the vaccine – but employees need to do more research. We need to know the cause. Vaccines need to be as safe as possible. Every life is important. “

Zook had high blood pressure, but had been controlled with medication for years, she said. He was a little overweight, but quite healthy. “He had never been hospitalized. He would catch a cold and recover two days later. The flu and three days later, ”she said.

His death was reported to the National Vaccine Adverse Event Notification System, administered by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control. The Orange County coroner said the cause of death was inconclusive for the time being, and more toxicology tests would take months.

“The family just wants the closure,” said Zook’s cousin, Ken Polanco, from Los Angeles. ”’Inconclusive’ is not a closure. The family wants pharmaceutical companies to do more research – if there is some kind of DNA that doesn’t work with this vaccine, if episodes like this can be prevented, they need to do what they can to determine this. “

Other post-vaccine deaths

Zook’s death came on the heels of a Florida doctor who died on January 3, weeks after receiving his first injection from Pfizer. Gregory Michael, a 56-year-old obstetrician and gynecologist from Miami Beach, suffered from idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), a rare immune disease in which blood does not normally clot. His death is under investigation.

In California, Placer County officials said a man died shortly after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine on January 21. They did not identify the vaccine or the person, but said he had tested positive for COVID in late December and that the vaccine was not provided by the Placer County Department of Public Health. Facebook posts say the man was a 56-year-old aide at a retirement home for the elderly. This death is also under investigation.

The Vaccine Adverse Event Notification System – which the authorities warn of is a “passive surveillance system” and represents unverified reports of health events that occur after vaccination – gathered more than 130 notifications of death after vaccine administration until now in 2021. A total of 1,330 adverse reactions have been reported, while more than 23.5 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been administered.

Experts warn that drawing a causal line between vaccination and death is often very difficult. When millions of people are being vaccinated – more than 13 million received the Pfizer vaccine on January 26, and more than 10.5 million received the Modern vaccine – some would die for a number of unrelated reasons, such as a matter of pure statistics.

Every year, in the United States, more than 2.8 million people die. The average is more than 7,800 deaths per day, according to CDC data.

“No prescription medication or biological product, like a vaccine, is completely free of side effects. Vaccines protect many people from dangerous diseases, but vaccines, like drugs, can cause side effects, a small percentage of which can be serious, ”says the Department of Health and Human Services in its booklet on VAERS data. “About 85-90% of the vaccine’s adverse event reports relate to relatively minor events, such as fever or redness and swelling at the injection site. The remaining reports (less than 15%) describe serious events, such as hospitalizations, life-threatening illnesses or deaths. Reports of serious events are of great concern and receive the most careful scrutiny by VAERS staff.

“It is important to note that for any reported event, no cause and effect relationship has been established. The event may have been related to an underlying disease or condition, drugs being taken simultaneously, or it may have happened by chance. “

Pfizer-BioNTech probe

A Pfizer-BioNTech spokesman said the company is aware of Zook’s death and is scrutinizing the matter.

“Our immediate thoughts are with the bereaved family,” the company said in an e-mailed statement. “We closely monitor all of these events and collect relevant information to share with global regulatory authorities. Based on ongoing safety analyzes conducted 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 that which would occur in the general population. “

Orange County Coroner has an open investigation into Zook’s death and will conduct additional tests within its autopsy protocol, said spokeswoman Carrie Braun. He will use these findings, along with the autopsy findings, to make a final determination about the cause and form of death. “If it is determined that there may be a correlation with the vaccine, we will notify the OC Health Care Agency immediately,” she said.

The FDA said it takes all vaccine-related adverse event reports seriously and, along with the CDC, “is actively engaged in safety surveillance” for COVID-19 vaccines that are being administered under emergency use authorizations.

“Any reports of death following vaccine administration are quickly and rigorously investigated jointly by the FDA and the CDC,” the agency said in a statement sent by email. “Such an investigation includes working with healthcare providers to obtain medical histories and clinical follow-up information.”

Mark Ghaly, California’s secretary of health and human services, said the state is also investigating these incidents. He sends condolences to those who have lost loved ones, but maintains the scientific conclusion that vaccines are safe.

“The details are complex and deserve further investigation, and that is what we are doing now,” said Ghaly on Monday, January 25, in the wake of Placer’s death. “Surprisingly, however, we have seen so many individuals successfully, and without any significant reaction, receive the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.”

The results of the state’s polls will be shared publicly, Ghaly said, along with “lessons learned”. This is the key to continuing to develop confidence in vaccines “and to put us on the other side of this pandemic,” he said.

Caring and generous man

Zook was a man who passionately urged people to adopt COVID’s precautions, such as dressing up and staying at home, as ICUs were flooded in December. He loved food, posting pictures of home-grown zucchinis, thick steaks, sumptuous Sunday breakfasts, wine tasting in Sonoma.

He shared memes asking for calm on election day, quoting Lincoln saying “We are not enemies, but friends”, and was moved to share the speech that President John F. Kennedy was never able to deliver: “We will not fight among ourselves when the future of our nation is at stake. We will remain together with renewed confidence in our cause – united in our heritage from the past and our hopes for the future – and determined that this land we love will lead all of humanity to new frontiers of peace and abundance. “