An elderly Australian woman died hours after receiving a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine – although it’s unclear whether the shot played a role in her death, officials said.
The 82-year-old woman lived in the Yurana nursing home in Queensland and received the Pfizer vaccine around 10 a.m. on Wednesday, News.com.au reported.
But less than three hours later, the woman died at home, the outlet reported.
It is not known if her death was caused by the vaccine, as she suffered from underlying health problems.
Australian Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said “at this stage there are no signs of any causal relationship,” reported the Australian Associated Press.
“Older and more vulnerable people in an aged care setting can be expected to die as a result of progression of the underlying disease or natural causes, this does not mean that the vaccine has contributed to this,” he said.
Health officials have repeatedly stressed that they believe the benefits of getting hospitalized outweigh the risks.
The death comes after officials announced on Monday that at least 855,000 Australians have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
