CDC to investigate the death of a Nebraska man who received a dose of Covid vaccine

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will investigate the death of a Nebraska man after local health officials named the Covid-19 vaccine as one of several causes of death, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said in a press release late Thursday.

The man, a long-term care facility who lived in his late forties with several coexisting illnesses and conditions, died between one and two weeks on Jan. 17 after receiving his first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to the statement.

The CDC and the FDA received 1,170 fatalities among individuals in the US who received a Covid vaccine – 0.003% of people vaccinated – between December 14 and February 7. During this time, more than 41 million doses of Pfizer or Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines were administered across the country, according to the CDC.

“The deaths from the COVID-19 vaccine can typically be attributed to anaphylaxis and occur within a relatively short period of time after the vaccine is administered, and so monitoring is done,” said Dr. Gary Anthone, Nebraska’s Chief Medical Officer.

“While I cannot speculate on this matter, people are more likely to die from other underlying factors days or weeks after receiving the vaccine,” said Anthone.

The death was entered into the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, a national vaccine safety surveillance program administered by the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration. All adverse events or fatalities must be reported to the system when they occur after vaccination.

“This process allows the CDC and the FDA to closely monitor and assess any adverse events for ongoing safety evaluations,” the state health department said in a statement.

The CDC has not reported any cause of death patterns that indicate safety concerns with the vaccines.

High-risk people should consult their medical providers about vaccination, Anthone said.