An elderly man collapsed and died in New York City on Sunday morning shortly after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, officials revealed Monday.
The man, who was in his 70s, fell as he left the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, just 25 minutes after getting his shot, New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker in a statement.
On-site security and first responders rushed to him within seconds, but the man, who has not yet been named, was pronounced dead at a local hospital shortly afterwards.
It is currently unclear whether the man’s death is related to the vaccine, and an investigation is currently underway.
Side effects to the vaccine are considered extremely rare, with those few cases usually related to an allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis.
“The first indications are that the man has not had any allergic reaction to the vaccine,” Zucker said in his statement, however.
The man, who was in his 70s, fell as he left the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan (above) just 25 minutes after receiving his shot
Side effects to the vaccine are considered extremely rare, with those few cases usually related to an allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis (file photo)
The man’s sudden collapse followed a mandatory 15-minute observation period, during which he “showed no side effects or any distress,” Zucker said.
The FDNY said the patient was taken to hospital by Senior Care just before 11 a.m. on Sunday, where he died shortly after arriving.
The man’s identity has not yet been disclosed by officials. It is also unclear what type of COVID-19 vaccine he received.
The Javits Center and Zucker’s office have not yet returned a request from DailyMail.com for comment on the matter.
In his statement, Zucker stressed that he and other public health experts believe the vaccine is “ safe, and along with continued vigilance, including wearing a mask and social detachment, it will end this pandemic. ”
“I encourage all eligible New Yorkers to get vaccinated,” Zucker continued.
Opened in January as a mass vaccination site, the Javits Center is one of several in the New York City area. It was originally used as a field hospital after the coronavirus pandemic first struck last spring.
Nearly a million people in New York City have been vaccinated so far, while 1.5 million residents have received their first doses statewide.
In the US, the daily number of people vaccinated now far exceeds the number infected, with an average of 1.3 million shots per day in the country.
A total of nearly 42 million doses have been administered to date.
At least one dose of a vaccine has been administered to 31,579,100 million people, equivalent to 9.6 percent of the population.
Just over 9,147,000 Americans have now received both doses of a vaccine, representing 2.78 percent of the population.
Opened in January as a mass vaccination site, the Javits Center is one of several in the New York City area
Adverse reactions to the vaccine are considered extremely rare, with those few cases usually related to allergic reactions.
However, since the vaccine’s introduction in December, there have been a handful of unexplained deaths so far involving those who recently received a COVID injection.
Over the weekend, 58-year-old Virginia Secretary Drene Keyes died less than a day after receiving a dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a clinic in Warsaw on Friday and falling ill.
Officials said they did not know her cause of death, of any underlying conditions Keyes might have had that could have contributed to it, and said there is no evidence that her death was related to the vaccination.
“The first indications are that the man did not have an allergic reaction to the vaccine,” Zucker said in his statement, however
As with Sunday’s incident in New York City, Keyes, as recommended, stayed in the clinic 15 minutes after the shot before returning to the clinic later that day.
She was rushed to VCU Health Tappahannock Hospital, where she died on Saturday.
“Preliminary findings indicate that the cause of death was not anaphylaxis, but it will take several weeks for additional information to become available,” Warsaw police chief Joan Kent said.
“We can confirm that the death occurred within hours of receiving the vaccine, but that’s not evidence it’s related. We are currently investigating and do not know the cause of death yet. ‘
Kent continued, “Our thoughts are with the family at this heartbreaking time,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. “CDC continues to closely monitor the safety of all vaccines and we are actively working with Virginia officials to fully investigate the situation.”
Last weekend, 58-year-old Virginia Secretary Drene Keyes (right) died less than a day after receiving a dose of Pfizer vaccine at a clinic in Warsaw on Friday and falling ill.
Similarly, in California last month, Tim Zook, a 60-year-old X-ray technologist at the South Coast Global Medical Center in Santa Ana, died on Jan. 7 two days after receiving his second dose of the Pfizer injection.
He had written on Facebook on the day of his vaccination that he had “never been more excited to get an injection” and celebrated being “fully vaccinated.”
Within hours, however, the father of three reportedly developed an apparent side effect and told his colleagues that he had sharp pain in his stomach and difficulty breathing.
After his symptoms worsened, his colleagues took him to the emergency room, where he was placed on a ventilator four hours after arrival.
The Orange County coroner said Zook’s cause of death is currently inconclusive and further toxicology testing will take months. If there is a link with the vaccine, the office says it will notify the OC Health Care Agency.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, a Pfizer spokesperson said at the time that the company is aware of Zook’s death and is also investigating the matter.
Pfizer said, “Our thoughts are immediately with the next of kin. We closely follow all such events and collect relevant information to share with global regulatory authorities.
Based on ongoing safety assessments conducted by Pfizer, BioNTech and health authorities, BNT162b2 maintains a positive benefit-risk profile for the prevention of COVID-19 infections. Serious adverse events, including deaths unrelated to the vaccine, are unfortunately likely to occur at the same rate as in the general population. ‘
Tim Zook (above with wife Rochelle), a 60-year-old X-ray technologist at South Coast Global Medical Center in Santa Ana, died just two days after receiving his second dose of Pfizer shot
Moments after getting the vaccine, Zook wrote on Facebook, “Never been excited to get an injection before. I am now fully vaccinated after receiving my second dose of Pfizer ‘
Zook’s wife, Rochelle Zook, told the Registry that her family “did not blame any pharmaceutical company.”
“My husband loved what he did,” she said. ‘He worked in hospitals for 36 1/2 years. He believed in vaccines. I’m sure he would take that vaccine again, and he would want the public to take it.
‘But if someone gets symptoms 2 1/2 hours after vaccination, that’s a reaction. What else could have happened? We would like the public to know what happened to Tim so that he didn’t die for nothing. Serious reactions are rare. In reality, COVID is a much more deadly force than reactions from the potential vaccine itself.
The message is, be safe, get the vaccine – but officials need to do more research. We need to know the cause. The vaccines must be as safe as possible. Every life is important. ‘
For the first time in three months on Sunday, the US reported fewer than 100,000 new daily COVID-19 cases, and hospitalizations also dropped as the vaccine roll-out accelerated.
Just over 96,000 new cases and 1,474 deaths were reported on Sunday, according to a COVID Tracking Project count.
Those latest figures put the U.S. total at more than 26.99 million cases and 463,339 deaths to date.
Hospital admissions also fell with 81,439 admitted patients as of Sunday – the fourth consecutive day by less than 90,000 after two months above that threshold.
