Pfizer says it is investigating the death of a Florida doctor who had received a dose of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine.
According to reports, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also studying the death of Gregory Michael, a 56-year-old obstetrician who had been shot 16 days earlier.
Pfizer said so far there is no evidence to indicate that Michael’s death was caused by the vaccine he developed with German biotech firm BioNTech.
Manhattan-based Pfizer called it a “very unusual clinical case” of a condition called severe thrombocytopenia, which limits the body’s ability to clot blood and stop internal bleeding.
“So far, millions of people have been vaccinated and we are closely monitoring all adverse events in people receiving our vaccine,” Pfizer spokeswoman Jerica Pitts told The Post in a statement Wednesday. “It is important to note that serious adverse events, including non-vaccine-related deaths, are likely to occur at a rate similar to that of the general population.”
The CDC is also aware of the death and will “assess the situation as more information becomes available,” agency spokesman Tom Skinner told Bloomberg News.
Michael’s wife, Heidi Neckelmann, said in a Facebook post that her husband died of a stroke after spending two weeks in a Miami Beach hospital. He attributed his death to a “strong reaction to the COVID vaccine,” which he said he received on Dec. 18.
“I think people should be aware that side effects can occur, which is not good for everyone, and in this case it destroyed a beautiful life, a perfect family and it has affected so many people in the community,” he said. said Neckelmann in the post, adding that her late husband was a “vaccine advocate.”
Pfizer, however, does not believe there is a connection between the vaccine and death based on its clinical trials of the shot and its “post-marketing experience so far,” Pitts said.
The Pfizer vaccine is one of two that U.S. officials have eliminated for emergency use as the nation struggles to control the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. The other plan was developed by Massachusetts-based biotechnology firm Modern.
The CDC did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday early.