New Zealand reports first death linked to Pfizer vaccine – WION

According to New Zealand health officials, a woman died after she was administered the Pfizer-BioNTechcoronavirus vaccine.

The country's health ministry said an independent COVID-19 vaccine safety monitoring board had concluded that the womans death was due to myocarditis which is a rare side effect of the Pfizer vaccine.

The health ministry said: "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."

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The age of the woman wasn't released by the health ministry.

The health ministry however added that the cause of death has not yet been determined while asserting that, "the benefits of vaccination with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine continue to greatly outweigh the risk of both COVID-19 infection and vaccine side effects, including myocarditis."

The board however added that there were other medical issues occurring at the same time that may have influenced the outcome after the woman took the vaccine.

Pfizer is the only vaccine which has been approved by health officials for public rollout in the country. The authorities have given provisional approval to Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines.

New Zealand has been battling the virus with the Delta variant spreadingrapidly in the country. On Monday the country reported 53 new coronavirus cases taking the total number of cases in the current outbreak to 562.

The government had announced a nationwide lockdown earlier this month after a virus case was detected in Auckland which has emerged as the epicentre of the virus.

On Sunday the country had reported 83 locally transmitted cases as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern indicated that tougher measures would be announced on Monday.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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New Zealand reports first death linked to Pfizer vaccine - WION