New York Teen Died Suddenly 4 Days After Pfizer Vaccine
An unnamed 15-year-old from Poughkeepsie collapsed at Greenvale Park summer camp in late July, and was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
The boy had been training to be a counselor, playing soccer when he went into cardiac arrest, just 4 days after getting the second dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, according to his VAERS report.
Local news picked up the story, but was unaware of his medical and vaccination history:
Teen boy training to be a counselor dies suddenly at Poughkeepsie summer camp
Teenage camp staffer dies suddenly
A search of VAERS yielded the boy’s VAERS report, which revealed the teenager had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in April, then diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in May.
He went on to get the first and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine, and then suffered an apparent cardiac arrest 4 days after the second dose while engaging in physical activity. It says here that he also wasn’t taking his medication.
What is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a disease that affects the heart muscle, causing the muscle to enlarge, or “hypertrophy.” It causes thickening of the heart muscle (especially the ventricles, or lower heart chambers), left ventricular stiffness, mitral valve changes and cellular changes.
Most people with HCM have a low risk for sudden cardiac death. However, HCM is the most common cause of sudden cardiac death in people under age 30.
It is unclear how safe the COVID-19 vaccine is for someone with a diagnosed heart condition such as HCM. The Pfizer clinical trial enrolled only 87 people with congestive heart failure, and 194 people with history of myocardial infarction in the vaccine arm out of 18,801 people who got the Pfizer shot. Adverse events are not recorded separately for people with heart conditions.
But the 6 month safety and efficacy report from Pfizer reveals overall that more people died after getting the Pfizer vaccine, than the placebo, for a numerical imbalance of 20 deaths compared to 14 deaths.
COVID-19 vaccine and myocarditis
A common side effect of the COVID-19 vaccine, especially in teens, is myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle. Both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are associated with an elevated risk for myocarditis, especially in teenage boys.
Many studies have tried to estimate the incidence of myocarditis after COVID vaccination. An Israeli study of 2.5 million people over the age of 16 found that the highest incidence of myocarditis (10.69 cases per 100,000 persons; 95% CI, 6.93 to 14.46) was reported in male patients between the ages of 16 and 29 years.
Another study in Israel of several million people found the rate of myocarditis was highest after the second dose in male recipients between the ages of 16 and 19 years (13.60; 95% CI, 9.30 to 19.20). The rate ratio 30 days after the second vaccine dose in fully vaccinated recipients, as compared with unvaccinated persons, was 2.35 (95% CI, 1.10 to 5.02), meaning fully vaccinated individuals were twice as likely to be diagnosed with myocarditis as were unvaccinated individuals.
“Fully vaccinated individuals were twice as likely to be diagnosed with myocarditis as were unvaccinated individuals.”
A study that looked at VAERS reports sought to establish the rate of post-vaccination cardiac myocarditis in the 12-15 and 16-17-year-old population and found:
Post-vaccination CAE rate was highest in young boys aged 12-15 following dose two. For boys 12-17 without medical comorbidities, the likelihood of post vaccination dose two CAE is 162.2 and 94.0/million respectively. This incidence exceeds their expected 120-day COVID-19 hospitalization rate at both moderate (August 21, 2021 rates) and high COVID-19 hospitalization incidence. Further research into the severity and long-term sequelae of post-vaccination CAE is warranted. Quantification of the benefits of the second vaccination dose and vaccination in addition to natural immunity in this demographic may be indicated to minimize harm.
SOURCES:
Myocarditis after Covid-19 Vaccination in a Large Health Care Organization
Myocarditis after BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccine against Covid-19 in Israel
Six Month Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine
