COVID: Orange County health worker dies after receiving 2nd dose of vaccine, report said

IRVINE, Calif. (KABC) – A health professional has died at UC Irvine Medical Center after receiving his second dose of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, the Orange County Register reported Tuesday.

Tim Zook, a 60-year-old X-ray technologist at South Coast Global Medical Center in Santa Ana, developed breathing problems and an upset stomach within hours of administering the second shot, the paper said.

He died days later on Saturday.

Zook’s family said he had high blood pressure and was slightly overweight, but he was supportive of the vaccine.

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The Orange County coroner’s office said it was investigating the man’s death, adding that if there is a link with the vaccine, it will notify the OC Health Care Agency.

To answer growing frustration over vaccine shortages, President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that the US is stepping up supplies to heavily stressed states over the next three weeks and expects to deliver enough doses to reach 300 million by the end of summer or early fall To vaccinate Americans.

Biden, calling the push a “war effort,” said the government was in the process of purchasing an additional 100 million doses of each of the two approved coronavirus vaccines. He acknowledged that in recent weeks, states have been guessing how much vaccine they’ll get from one week to the next.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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