The COVID-19 Vaccine Independent Safety Monitoring Board (the Board) has notified the Ministry of Health of a third death in New Zealand considered to be linked to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty).
This is a tragic circumstance, and the Board expresses their sympathy to the individual’s whānau and friends. The Board first reviewed the Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring (CARM) report of a death in December 2021.
At the time, there was not enough information available to determine the potential role of the vaccine. The Board met in March 2022 to consider all the information available, which showed that the individual had myocarditis at the time of death.
In the weeks prior to their death, the individual had received a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. The Board considers that the development of myocarditis was possibly due to vaccination with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.