Mother of four, Anne VanGeest, 35, died April 19 at Mercy Health Saint Mary’s in Grand Rapids, Michigan 11 days after getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Janssen.

After the vaccine, Anne had constant headaches and it turned out she had developed the same type of cerebral brain blood clot that temporarily paused the Janssen vaccine for a few days or a week. The vaccine has since resumed, despite risk of cerebral blood clots.

Many keep saying this is a very rare occurrence, and try to point out that COVID-19 also carries risk of blood clots but there are some key issues that are not addressed:

• There was 1 brain blood clot out of 21,895 vaccinated people in the trial, so a rate of 1 in 21,000 would mean more than 360 people have had these cerebral blood clots.
• We aren’t talking about all blood clots, all vaccines have had hundreds and thousands of blood clots associated with them, this discussion is specifically about a brain blood clot.
• The risk of brain blood clots in COVID-19 has not been elucidated, but the risks vary by age, while the risks for this vaccine-associated blood clot is higher in younger people, who are at a smaller risk for COVID associated blood clots.
• The risk of severe COVID complications is much lower in younger people, vs. the elderly.
• The number of people having brain blood clots after the vaccine is not known.
• (R00-R99) cause of death category has skyrocketed since the release of the COVID 19 vaccines.

Her family says she died due to complications after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the news of Anne’s passing as the result of complications after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine,” her family said in a Thursday morning statement released through a Grand Rapids public relations firm.

The Johnson & Johnson clinical trial of 21,895 vaccine recipients uncovered this very rare blood clot.

A rate of 1 in 21,895 would mean over 350 people have experienced this blood clot as of April 22nd.

From the trial:

A healthy 25-year old male with no past medical history in the Janssen trial experienced a transverse sinus thrombosis, which was the brain blood clot that would get the vaccine paused. And the initial investigator totally dropped the ball, deeming it not related.

Here is the detailed description reported in the J&J Janssen clinical trial:

A 25-year-old male with no past medical history and no concurrent medications experienced a transverse sinus thrombosis on Day 21 following vaccination. On Day 9 the participant experienced symptoms of fever, myalgia, headache, fatigue, abdominal pain, congestion and rhinorrhea. He tested negative for SARs-CoV-2 during this acute illness. Aside from headache, his symptoms improved. On Day 19 he experienced atonic colonic seizure. A CT scan without contrast demonstrated a cerebral hemorrhage. On Day 21, a transverse sinus thrombosis was reported on a venogram. The participant underwent a thrombectomy as well as stent placement for stenosed right sigmoid sinus on Day 22. On Day 23 repeat venogram showed the presence of a new clot in the transverse sinus. A second thrombectomy with venoplasty was performed. Treating clinicians reported observing rapid thrombus formation during the two thrombectomy procedures that was consistent with a clinically hypercoagulable state. In their assessment, the transverse sinus thrombosis most likely occurred days before the participant’s clinical presentation with a seizure; the seizure was reported to be a consequence of a secondary bleed caused by elevated venous pressure from the venous flow obstruction. Workup for hematologic and infectious causes of the thrombosis did not reveal an etiology. This event was initially thought to be related to the study product by the investigator and prompted a study pause. After thorough investigation and expert consultation no clear cause of the event was identified; however possible contributing factors, such as preceding infection and an anatomical anomaly, were suggested. The investigator’s brochure and informed consent form were updated accordingly, and the study pause was lifted. The investigator and Sponsor’s final assessment of this event was that it was not related to the study product.

As of April 22nd, 8 million people were vaccinated with the Janssen shot, putting the total number of this rare brain blood clot to be around 365.

From her obituary:

As a young girl, Annie constantly brought home stray animals. She vowed to one day own a farm where she could care for as many animals as her heart desired. Annie and her family eventually realized this dream with a hobby farm where cows, pigs, goats, and ducks ran wild.