Death After COVID-19 Vaccine. Should You Get It?

Last updated on May 1, 2021

A healthy 56-year-old Florida physician died within weeks of getting the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. In Norway, 29 people over the age of 75 died within days of getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Other serious side effects reported to date include 4 cases of Bell’s palsy (partial facial paralysis) and several cases of anaphylaxis (a severe and sometimes deadly allergic reaction to a substance, drug, or food). These reports certainly cause concern. Health officials are taking a closer look at the deaths as potential side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Despite this news, the number of deaths from COVID-19 at an all-time high worldwide. The COVID-19 vaccine offers real hope after nearly a year-long pandemic. A hope that we can one day go back to the way things were thanks to herd (community) immunity.

Herd immunity occurs when a high percentage of people become immune to a disease. Achievable through prior infection with an organism responsible for illness or vaccination. Thus, by making its spread amongst people less probable.  

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

With herd immunity achieved, newborns and people with any long-term illness may receive some protection. That is because the disease is less likely to spread in people, thereby strengthening public health. According to Bloomberg, there have been 44 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine received globally. In the United States, there have been 14.7 million shots of the COVID-19 vaccine administered.

The proportion of people who require immunization for herd immunity differs from disease to disease. For instance, measles requires that approximately 95% of the population be immunized. The remaining 5% become protected against measles. For polio, the minimum is about 80%.

At this time, the proportion of the population that must be vaccinated against COVID-19 to begin inducing herd immunity is unknown. 

Source: World Health Organization

Vaccines

A vaccine is a type of drug. It acts by imitating the infectious organism, thereby encouraging the body’s immune system to build a defense mechanism against the organism without causing the disease. 

Vaccines include the same germs that make us sick. For instance, the measles vaccine contains the measles virus. But the germs have either been killed or made weak so that they do not make us sick. Some vaccines include only a part of the germ.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Like all drugs, there are pros and cons. No vaccine is 100% effective for disease prevention and, none is 100% safe for all people. There is an expectation that some people will react to a vaccine. Fever, nausea and vomiting, local pain or swelling at the injection site, and worsening of underlying ailments are common symptoms.

History of Vaccines

Vaccines began with an extensive history of preventable disease in man, beginning with smallpox, as illustrated in the image below.

Could The COVID-19 Vaccination Be Another Human Experiment?

Vaccination is one of the most recognized achievements in the field of public health. And with more than 2.33 million deaths attributable to COVID-19 worldwide, it is urgent to stop this virus. Regrettably, past unethical public health research, including the infamous Tuskegee study, among many others, has impacted trust in medical innovations to date.

“Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male” was a study conducted by the United States Public Health Service to understand the full progression of a disease. Researchers did not help even when the men got very sick, blind, mentally unstable – or died.

Source: HISTORY

The data from the Tuskegee study has changed the way research in public health is done. Government-funded human studies are reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB). Now, research disclosure rules are incorporated. Researchers now need to obtain voluntary and informed consent from all study participants, including recently approved COVID-19 trials.

Today, testing, vaccines require compliance with three ethical principles that have been in place since the Second World War. That includes autonomy (informed consent), charitable (the optimal gain as opposed to the risk and no harm), and justice (equal distribution of benefits and burden among study participants). 

How Does a Vaccines Work?

In general, vaccines drive our immune system to produce proteins. The proteins are called disease antibodies. They function as would if we came in contact with a pathogen, got sick, and recovered. That is after our body fights off the infection. Immunized persons are usually protected. That reduces the risk of spreading the disease, therefore, breaking any chain of infection.

The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine

The Pfizer/BioNTech drug against COVID-19 is a Messenger Ribonucleic Acid (mRNA) type drug. mRNA is a molecule used by living cells to change gene sequences in DNA into proteins. A copied DNA segment in a part of the mRNA is to be interpreted by the cell to make proteins.

Immunization

The mRNA drug is injected into the muscle. Our cells then interpret it and make a viral protein. The immune system reacts to the proteins. This creates a protective response that we do not yet know for how long it will last.

Do the Approved COVID-19 Vaccine Protect Against The New Strain of COVID-19?

A recent study by Pfizer researchers suggests that it protects against new Covid variants. Nevertheless, more research is necessary to verify that the degree of protection offered by it is as high as against earlier variants.

Guidelines For Prevention of COVID-19 Spread Before/After COVID-19 Vaccination

Until scientists find out more about the protection that COVID-19 vaccines provide and for how long. We should continue to:

• Put on a mask
• Stay 6 feet or more away from everyone else
• Avoid crowds
• Wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds
• Use a hand sanitizer that contains 60% or more alcohol
• Follow CDC travel tips
• Follow post-COVID-19 exposure and quarantine guidelines
• Follow all recommended workplace and safety guidelines

The Verdict

I believe that people should and have a right to be skeptical. We ought to ask questions about everything we put in your body. However, there has been no cause-effect link found between the drug and the deaths. Nor with the four cases of Bell’s palsy. Taking into account the protective history of vaccines, the benefits of their protection outweigh the risks.

Even so, if there are concerns, or you are an individual with a history of illness or allergies, ask questions. Inquire on the component of each drug before taking them. Now, with all the information you have. And on the assumption that the new drugs approved are with no political motivation and with high ethical standards, The question now is would you get a COVID-19 Vaccine?

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