LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – Gov. Pete Ricketts shared a few details on Friday about the CDC’s investigation into how the COVID-19 vaccination may have contributed to the death of a Nebraskan in his forties in January.
Typically, he said, a death from vaccination is caused by a severe allergic reaction, which is why those who get the vaccine are usually asked to wait about 15 minutes after they get it – but that probably wasn’t the cause in this case.
“In this case, the person died one or two weeks after they received the first dose of the vaccine, so it was not an anaphylactic reaction,” Ricketts said at his news conference Friday morning. “It’s not clear that this person died because of the vaccine listed and one of the causes on the death certificate, but that’s why we’re doing the investigation.”
Some information about the death will not be able to be shared to protect that person’s privacy, but officials will try to provide as much detail as possible as the investigation progresses, the governor said.
Dr. Gary Anthone, Nebraska’s chief medical officer, agreed that the Nebraskan who died 10 to 14 days after being given the COVID-19 vaccine was unlikely to have an anaphylactic reaction.
The COVID-19 vaccines “have had a very safe profile,” he said. The Pfizer vaccine has reported 5 anaphylactic reactions per million vaccine doses and the Moderna vaccine has 3 anaphylactic reactions reported per million doses. That’s comparable to flu and measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations, Anthone said.
The governor said approximately 165,000 Nebraskans have received COVID-19 vaccinations so far.
“It would be very unusual for someone to die ten days to two weeks after receiving the vaccination, so that’s why we need this (CDC) study,” Anthone said.
Speaking more about the introduction of the vaccine, Ricketts reiterated that Nebraska was in Phase 1B, prioritizing those over 65 and over, but noted that there may be some rare exceptions where someone who is not ‘exactly in the profile’ of the current age group, a vaccine. That’s because when clinics have some leftover doses, they look to those in other upcoming priority groups to vaccinate so that no doses are lost, he said, noting there is no “standby” list.
The registration system allows providers to note when they have had to discard a vaccination dose, but the system is currently unable to extract that information, said DHHS Chief Data Strategist Ashley Newmyer.
Officials would not provide details about doses of COVID-19 vaccine that the state may have had to discard.
A spokesman for the Douglas County Health Department said Friday that DCHD “discarded one dose due to a needle malfunction.” Other than that, he said, the department has a “call list” for extra doses, “so they all take some getting used to.”
Ricketts said the federal government has chosen 33 of the 43 pharmacies that have applied for the retail vaccination allocations, he said. The governor was again critical of the way the federal government is handling the retail pharmacy rollout program and said the state’s health districts were not getting enough to begin planning this part of the vaccine rollout .
The governor said the state’s record in distributing COVID-19 vaccines through local health departments is faster and more timely than that of the federal pharmacy program. He said officials are working on a plan to use any FEMA assistance the state could get to replace volunteers who assist with testing and vaccine administration with paid staff.
WEATHER WARNING: Ricketts also warned Nebraskans of the extremely cold weather forecast for the weekend and urged them to stay home if they don’t need to go out – or to make sure they have a cold weather prep kit with them if they do.
Watch Friday’s press conference
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