KU doctors urged the public to recognize the proven safety of COVID-19 vaccines
By ALEX SMITH
Kansas News Service
Kansas officials confirmed on Thursday that a 68-year-old woman from Atchison County suffered anaphylaxis and died after receiving a vaccine with COVID-19, but said no link between the shot and her death had been determined.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said on Thursday it would investigate the case.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 126 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered in the US from mid-December to March 22. The agency received 2,216 reports of deaths after dosing, but its analyzes found no evidence that vaccines caused those deaths.
University of Kansas doctors, who did not treat the patient, said on Thursday that more information would be needed to understand what happened. But they warned against people basing vaccine views on a single incident or media coverage.
“What you don’t want to do is, at this time when we have such a big divide in this country and such a big fight between the red states and the blue states – don’t take this event and take it to an extreme that you say no one it must be vaccinated, because the fact is that everyone should be vaccinated, ”said Steven Stites, medical director at the University of Kansas.
On her Facebook page on Wednesday night, NBC affiliate KSNT in Topeka cited the obituary of Jeanie Evans, 68, from Effingham, Kansas, who categorically stated that the cause of death was “a reaction to the Covid vaccine” . The obituary reported that Evans had died at the Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka.
The story was then broadcast by other TV stations, including KCTV Channel 5 and KMBC Channel 9 in Kansas City. By late Thursday morning, it had been shared more than 1,000 times on Facebook. While many of those who shared it posted skeptical comments about the safety of vaccines, others criticized media reports or attacked other commentators.
At noon, the New York Post and Fox5 New York also published articles on Evans’ death.
The KDHE confirmed to the KCUR on Thursday that a 68-year-old woman from Atchison County died, but said the cause of death had not yet been determined by a medical expert.
“Until the investigation is completed, it is premature to determine a specific cause of death,” Kristi Zears, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said in an email.
The death will be investigated according to standard protocol, added Zears.
A spokesman for Stormont Vail confirmed that Evans, who was vaccinated elsewhere, died after being transported to the hospital.
“The individual was transported to our hospital after receiving the vaccine in the region. The cause of death has not yet been determined. Our thoughts and condolences are with the family,” said spokesman Matt Lara by email.
KCUR was unable to contact Evans’ family on Thursday.
KU’s Stites said that while an extreme reaction to a dose of vaccine is possible, deaths can occur after administration of a vaccine due to many unrelated causes, such as a heart attack or stroke.
Stites encouraged the public to honor the loss of the Evans family, while recognizing overwhelming evidence of vaccine safety.
“The rest of us have to understand that that pain in that isolated case is not measured,” said Stites. “We cannot measure for that family. We cannot find solace for this family. But we know that, across the world and across humanity, there is no doubt that vaccines save millions and millions and millions and millions of lives in relation to the number of people who die. “