TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese woman, a 60-year-old woman, died of cerebral hemorrhage three days after receiving a Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, the health ministry said on Tuesday, adding that there may not be a link between the two.
The woman was vaccinated on Friday and is suspected of having suffered a brain hemorrhage three days later, on Monday. It was the first reported death in Japan after a vaccination.
“Cerebral hemorrhage that is suspected to be the cause is relatively common among people aged 40 to 60 and, at the moment, based on examples abroad, there does not seem to be a link between brain hemorrhages and the coronavirus vaccine,” the ministry quoted. Tomohiro Morio, a doctor who advised the government, as he said.
“It may be a coincidence, but it is necessary to gather more information and make an assessment in the next working groups”.
Pfizer executives in Japan were not immediately available for comment. Pfizer said in November that the effectiveness of its vaccine was consistent across all ages and ethnic groups, and that there were no major side effects, a sign that immunization could be widely used worldwide.
Global health officials have praised the rapid development of safe and effective COVID vaccines, but have warned people with serious underlying health problems to seek medical advice first.
Japan became the last member of the Group of Seven major industrialized nations to begin its vaccination campaign on February 17.
To date, it has received three shipments of vaccines developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
Japan officially approved the Pfizer vaccine last month, the first such approval in the country, by stepping up efforts to control infections before the Olympics.
(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Nick Macfie)