Pfizer Inc. and federal health officials are investigating the death of a healthcare provider 16 days after the person receives the company’s first dose of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine.
So far, the evidence suggests no connection, Pfizer said in a statement Tuesday. The Florida-based physician developed a rare condition called severe thrombocytopenia that decreases the body’s ability to clot blood and stop internal bleeding.
Pfizer cited its clinical studies and data collected since the vaccine was approved in the US when reporting its initial conclusion that the evidence does not suggest a causal relationship to the shot it developed with Germany’s vaccine. BioNTech SE. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is aware of the death and “will evaluate the situation as more information becomes available,” said spokesman Tom Skinner.
“To date, millions of people have been vaccinated and we are closely monitoring all adverse events in individuals receiving our vaccine,” Pfizer said in its statement. “It is important to note that serious adverse events, including deaths unrelated to the vaccine, are unfortunately likely to occur at the same rate as in the general population.”
Pfizer’s stock fell 2% to $ 37.03 at 3:14 p.m. trading in New York on a day when the company also said adjusted earnings for 2021 would be between $ 3 and $ 3.10 a share, less than what analysts had expected.
The New York Times first reported the death of Gregory Michael, a 56-year-old midwife and gynecologist in Miami Beach. The Times quoted a Facebook post written on Jan. 5 by his wife, Heidi Neckelmann, who said Michael had died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved for emergency use in the US on Dec. 14, with health professionals and people in long-term care facilities first in line to receive the injection. So far, 9.27 million injections of this vaccine have been administered and a second approved vaccine has been developed by Moderna Inc., according to a statement by Bloomberg and data from the CDC.
The CDC, along with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other federal agencies, regularly reviews Covid-19 vaccine safety data and shares their findings with a group of vaccine safety experts, who provide independent guidelines, according to the CDC. to federal officials. Skinner.
“Our thoughts are with the family at this heartbreaking time,” said Skinner.
– With the help of Michelle Fay Cortez