New Zealand has reported its first death linked to the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.
The health ministry has declared that a woman suffered a rare heart muscle inflammation side effect after receiving her first batch of vaccination.
“This is the first case … where a death in the days following the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccination,” the health ministry said.
However, the authorities did not declare the official cause of death.
The Covid-19 Vaccine Independent Safety Monitoring Board said the woman’s death was “probably” due to myocarditis.
It also noted there were other medical issues which could have “influenced the outcome following vaccination”.
“This is the first case in New Zealand where a death in the days following vaccination has been linked to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. While the Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring has received other reports of deaths in someone recently vaccinated, none are considered related to vaccination,” it said in a statement.
Pfizer Media Team Refused to Comment
The Pfizer media team in New Zealand did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment.
The coroner is currently dealing with the case and we don’t know the cause of death, the health ministry said.
New Zealand is battling an outbreak of the Delta variant of Covid-19 after nearly six months of being virus free.
It reported 53 new cases on Monday, taking the total number of infections in the current outbreak to 562.
The authorities declared a nationwide lockdown earlier this month to beat the spread of the Delta variant.
