Utah’s chief medical examiner is asking the public not to jump to conclusions about a 39-year-old mother who died four days after receiving her second dose of the Modern coronavirus vaccine.
Kassidi Kurill, from Ogden, died on February 5 after falling ill and being rushed to hospital.
Her family, which is still awaiting the results of her autopsy, believes her death may have been the result of complications due to the COVID-19 vaccine because she had no known health problems.
Dr. Erik Christensen, Chief Medical Examiner for the Utah Department of Health, contested that belief this week after Kurill’s death caught national media attention, saying it was only “temporarily related” to his second dose of vaccine.
Christensen said his office has not certified any vaccine-related deaths so far and that there does not appear to be a link between the deaths of four Utah residents – one of whom is Kurill – and the vaccines.
“We have no evidence that there are connections between vaccines and deaths at this time,” he told Fox News. “We have no indication of that.”
Kassidi Kurill, 39, died four days after receiving his second dose of the Modern coronavirus vaccine in Utah last month. In the photo: Kurill with her nine-year-old daughter Emilia
Dr. Erik Christensen (photo), Chief Medical Examiner for the Utah Department of Health, urged the public not to jump to conclusions about Kurill’s death
Christensen noted that side effects of the vaccine are common and that each person’s response is determined by their unique biology.
“Certainly, there are side effects of a vaccine that are directly linked to the vaccine and what is going on in your body,” he said.
– You know, the pain in the arm … the fever symptoms related to your immune response to what was put in you. These kinds of things happen clearly. ‘
He said proving that the vaccine was the cause of death is very rare, unless there was an immediate case of anaphylaxis, which would be an instant death.
An autopsy, which the family is still waiting for, could reveal an undiagnosed condition that may have caused death, added Christensen.
Kurill’s family says the mother of one was healthy and had no pre-existing illnesses before her sudden death.
“She looked healthy as a horse,” Kurill’s father, Alfred Hawley, told Fox News.
‘She was healthy, happy and active, the best mother you have ever seen in your life, and then she was so sick that, in less than 12 hours, she got intubated and started breathing.’
Kurill worked as a surgical technician for several plastic surgeons. Healthcare professionals in Utah were the first to qualify for the vaccine.
She received the second dose of the vaccine on February 1 and started complaining the next day about headaches, nausea and an inability to urinate despite drinking fluids.
Her condition improved slightly on the second day after vaccination, but she got worse and was rushed to the hospital on February 4.
‘She came early and said her heart was racing and she felt she needed to go to the emergency room,’ said her father.
Kurill received her second dose of vaccine on February 1 and started complaining the next day about headaches, nausea and an inability to urinate despite drinking fluids
When she arrived at the hospital, Kurill immediately started to vomit while the doctors worked to find an explanation.
“They did a blood test and immediately came back and said that she was very, very sick and that her liver was not working,” said Hawley.
Kurill was flown that night to the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, where doctors tried to stabilize her for a liver transplant.
Her condition continued to worsen to the point where she was unable to speak the next morning and her heart and kidneys were paralyzed.
‘She got worse and worse over the course of the day. And at nine o’clock, she passed away, ‘said Hawley.
“It was a total shock. I was even afraid to tell my wife. ‘
Hawley said that until the family obtains other data, they ‘must believe there was something with the injection’.
But he said he hoped his daughter’s experience would not discourage others from getting vaccinated. He recommended that anyone who has symptoms after the vaccine take them seriously.
‘If you have a reaction to that, don’t ignore it. Don’t be stoic and just say, ‘Oh, I’ll be fine,’ he said. ‘Watch. If it persists for more than a day, you should see a doctor. And make sure that you are no longer one in a million.
The loved ones created a GoFundMe campaign to support Kurill’s nine-year-old daughter, Emilia.
An autopsy is underway to determine the cause of Kurill’s sudden death. Loved ones created a GoFundMe campaign to support their daughter Emilia (together above)
Deaths from coronavirus vaccines are extremely rare, according to the CDC Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.
Of the more than 92 million doses administered in the United States to date, less than 1,700 deaths have been reported.
“So far, VAERS has not detected patterns in the cause of death that would indicate a safety problem with the COVID-19 vaccines,” says the CDC website.
The FDA requires vaccine providers to report any deaths after a COVID vaccine to the Vaccine Adverse Event Notification System, also known as VAERS.
Four Utah residents are currently listed in this database and one of them is believed to be Kurill.
Anyone can submit reports to the VAERS database, including family members, relatives and doctors. It is an unverified reporting system that does not determine whether a vaccine caused the reported death.
Deaths from coronavirus vaccines are extremely rare, according to the CDC Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. Of the more than 92 million doses administered in the US to date, less than 1,700 deaths have been reported (file photo)