A woman from Utah died just a few days after she got her second COVID-19 vaccine dose, according to a report that investigated the side effects. The deceased, 39-year-old Kassidi Kurill, took the second dose on Monday, February 1 and by Friday evening, February 5 she was dead.
Kurill's father, Alfred Hawley said she was seemingly healthy like a "horse" and her daughter had no known underlying health issue. According to Hawley, Kurill's condition worsened on Tuesday, February 2—just a day after taking the second shot.
Sudden Complications
The father of the woman said that Kurill was drinking fluids but not urinating and developed a headache, as well as nausea. On Wednesday, February 3, she felt a little better but the next day her heart began racing. Later, Hawley took her to the hospital.
"When I took her to the emergency room, she had her makeup on and false eyelashes on. I mean she wasn't going to go not put together," said her father.
Suddenly Kurill started to vomit and doctors immediately conducted some blood tests. According to Hawley, she became less coherent. On Thursday, February 4 she was transported to Trauma Center in Murray for a liver transplant. Doctors tried to stabilize her for the surgical procedure but her condition deteriorated. On Friday morning, February 5 she was unable to talk.
"They were trying to get her to a point where she was stable enough for a liver transplant. And they just could not get her stable. She got worse and worse throughout the day. And at nine o'clock, she passed," said Kurill's father.
Her autopsy report is pending, said Hawley and added that "it appears she was the odd one out that had the terrible reaction." Despite the death of his daughter, the 69-year-old man has decided to get the vaccine because he is diabetic and the Coronavirus infection poses a real threat to his health.
He is encouraging people to take the vaccine as he believes that it will help everyone. "But if you have a reaction to it, don't ignore it. Don't be stoic and just say, 'Oh, I'll be fine,'" Hawley said.
"Pay attention. If it persists beyond a day, you might go see a doctor. And make sure that you're not another one in a million," he added.
The family has set up a GoFundMe page for "Kassidi Kurill and Emilia Memorial Fund," in honour of the 39-year-old woman and her nine-year-old daughter.
Vaccine Side Effects
The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine which Kurill received is an mRNA vaccine. According to healthcare guidance, two shots should be administered, one month (28 days) apart.
As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US, the side effects would include pain, redness and swelling in the arm where the vaccine shot was given. But a vaccinated person can also develop some other issues such as tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, fever and nausea.
Side effects from a vaccine are common, but causing deaths are extremely rare incidents. As per the CDC's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) while around 92 million vaccine doses were given in the US from December 14, 2020, to March 8, 2021. Out of these vaccine receivers VAERS got 1,637 reports of death.
The CDC says on its website, "To date, VAERS has not detected patterns in the cause of death that would indicate a safety problem with COVID-19 vaccines.
