Utah’s top medical examiner is urging the public not to rush to conclusions about a 39-year-old mother who died four days after receiving her second dose of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine.
Kassidi Kurill, from Ogden, died on February 5 after falling ill and rushed to hospital.
Her family, who are still waiting for the results of her autopsy, believe her death may have resulted from complications from the COVID-19 vaccine because she had no known health problems.
Dr. Erik Christensen, Utah Department of Health’s Chief Medical Examiner, challenged this belief this week after Kurill’s death national media coverage, saying it was only “ temporarily related ” to her second vaccine dose.
Christensen said his office has so far declared no vaccine-related deaths and that there does not appear to be a link between the deaths of four Utah residents – one of which is Kurill – and the vaccines.
“We don’t have any evidence at this point that there are any links between the vaccines and deaths,” he told Fox News. “We have no indication of that.”
Kassidi Kurill, 39, died four days after receiving her second dose of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine in Utah last month. Pictured: Kurill with her nine-year-old daughter Emilia
Dr. Erik Christensen (pictured), Chief Medical Examiner for the Utah Department of Health, urged the public not to jump to conclusions about Kurill’s death
Christensen noted that side effects from the vaccine are common and each person’s response is determined by their unique biology.
“Certainly there are side effects from a vaccine that are directly related to the vaccine and what happens in your body,” he said.
“You know, the pain in the arm … the feverish symptoms associated with your immune response to what was put into you. Things like that obviously happen. ‘
He said it is very rare to prove that the vaccine was a cause of death unless there was an immediate case of anaphylaxis, which would be immediate death.
An autopsy, which the family is still waiting for, could potentially reveal an undiagnosed condition that may have caused death, Christensen added.
Kurill’s family says the mother of one was healthy and had no pre-existing conditions prior to her sudden death.
“She was apparently healthy as a horse,” Kurill’s father, Alfred Hawley, told Fox News.
“She was healthy, happy, and active, the best mom you’ve ever seen in your life, and then she was so sick she was intubated and life-sustaining in less than 12 hours.”
Kurill worked as a surgical technician for several plastic surgeons. Health workers in Utah were among the first to qualify for the vaccine.
She received her second vaccination dose on February 1 and began complaining of headache, nausea and inability to urinate despite drinking fluids the next day.
Her condition improved slightly on her second day after the vaccination, but she deteriorated and was rushed to hospital on February 4.
“She came in early and said her heart was beating and she felt she needed to go to the emergency room,” said her father.
Kurill received her second vaccination dose on February 1 and began complaining of headache, nausea, and inability to urinate despite drinking fluids the next day
When she arrived at the hospital, Kurill immediately started throwing up while doctors worked to find an explanation.
“They did a blood test and immediately came back and said she was very, very sick and her liver was not functioning,” Hawley said.
Kurill was taken that night by airlift to the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, where doctors attempted to stabilize her for a liver transplant.
Her condition continued to deteriorate to the point that she could no longer speak the next morning and her heart and kidneys stopped.
‘She kept getting worse all day. And she passed by nine o’clock, ”Hawley said.
It was a total shock. I was even afraid to tell my wife. ‘
Hawley said that until the family has other details, they “must believe there was something with the shot.”
But he did say he hopes his daughter’s experience won’t discourage others from getting vaccinated. He urged anyone who experiences symptoms after the vaccine to take them seriously.
If you have a reaction to it, don’t ignore it. Don’t be stoic and just say, “Oh, it’ll be fine,” he said. ‘Pay attention. If it lasts for more than a day, you may need to see a doctor. And make sure you’re not just another in a million. ‘
Lovers have launched a GoFundMe campaign to support Kurill’s nine-year-old daughter, Emilia.
An autopsy is performed to determine the cause of Kurill’s sudden death. Lovers have set up a GoFundMe campaign to support her daughter Emilia (together above)
Deaths from coronavirus vaccines are extremely rare, according to the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.
Of the more than 92 million doses administered in the US to date, fewer than 1,700 deaths have been reported.
“To date, VAERS has not detected any patterns of cause of death that would indicate a safety concern with COVID-19 vaccines,” the CDC website said.
The FDA requires vaccine providers to report any death following a COVID vaccine to the Vaccine Adverse Event Report System, also known as VAERS.
Four Utah residents are currently in that database, and one of them is believed to be Kurill.
Anyone can submit reports to the VAERS database, including family, next of kin and doctors. It is an unverified reporting system that does not determine whether a vaccine caused the death that is reported.
Deaths from coronavirus vaccines are extremely rare, according to the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. Of the more than 92 million doses administered in the US to date, fewer than 1,700 deaths have been reported (photo on file)