Severe Reactions Minutes After COVID Vaccination Usually Written Off as Coincidental

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone who receives a COVID-19 vaccine should be “monitored on site for at least 15 minutes after vaccination.” This is based on the belief that most allergic reactions to vaccines, including severe ones like anaphylaxis, which can lead to unconsciousness, seizures, shock, coma and death, occur within 15 to 30 minutes after a shot. “An immediate onset is a big clue,” said Niraj Patel, MD, an allergist and chair of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force.^{1 2 3 4}

Reactions 15-30 Minutes After Vaccination Should Be Assumed to Be Linked to the Shot

Consequently, it stands to reason that reactions occurring within 15-30 minutes of a vaccination would immediately be suspected of being linked to the vaccine given and not dismissed as a mere coincidence. But that does not seem to be what happens in many cases because, even when the timing of a reaction is in such close proximity to the administration of a shot, many public health officials and medical workers simply cannot accept that a vaccine might have caused the harm done.

A good example of this is the recent case of Carol Diane Pierce, 69, who died on Sept. 14, 2022 a mere seven minutes after getting a booster dose of a COVID shot at a Shoppers Drug Mart in Saskatoon (Saskatchewan), Canada. Pierce, who was reportedly healthy, received the shot and was waiting during the required 15-minute period of observation before leaving the drugstore, when she suddenly collapsed on the floor.⁵

According to Pierce’s daughter, Stephanie Foster:

My mom text me right after she got the shot to let me know she was waiting the 15 minute and I text her back. She text me at 12:31 pm and said she was waiting her 15 minutes. At 12:38 pm she was unconscious in [the drug store]. It was right after then that they say ‘she dropped dead before she hit the floor’ in Shoppers Drug Mart. That is what the docs have told us.⁵

The Saskatchewan Ministry of Health (MOH) apparently investigated Pierce’s death and, within less than two weeks, attributed it to “natural causes.” The MOH said, “the coroner’s service has investigated this instance and determined this person died from natural causes.” In other words—it was just a coincidence.^{5 6}

In the death of Drene Keyes, 58, on Jan. 30, 2021 less than an hour after receiving the first dose of Pfizer/BioNTech’s messenger RNA (mRNA) Comirnaty biologic at a clinic in Tappahannock, Virginia, the state’s chief medical examiner concluded that the shot did not contribute to Keyes’ death and that she died naturally of complications from hypertensive cardiovascular disease and COVID-19.^{7 8}

Note that Keyes waited the recommended 15 minutes to make sure she did not suffer any immediate side effects of the shot, but as she was walking to her car in the parking lot she told her daughter, “something’s not right.” About 20 minutes after the vaccination, Keyes began having trouble breathing and started vomiting every 20 to 30 seconds. She returned to the clinic where a doctor administered a shot of epinephrine in one of her legs and a second shot of epinephrine in an arm. Keyes was also given oxygen. She died shortly thereafter at VCU Tappahannock Hospital.^{7 8}

Another coincidence.

On Feb. 7, 2021, a man in his 70s died in Manhattan, New York just 25 minutes after receiving a COVID shot. The deceased, whose name was not released to the public, collapsed suddenly as he was leaving the Jacob Javits Convention Center, where he was vaccinated, and was quickly taken by senior care attendants to an area hospital where he died.⁹

“Initial indications are that the man did not have any allergic reaction to the vaccine,” according to New York state health commissioner Howard Zucker, MD. The man had reportedly waited the required 15 minutes observation after the vaccination, “where he exhibited no adverse reactions or any distress.” Dr. Zucker said.⁹

Probably just coincidental.

On Feb. 12, 2021, a 78-year-old woman died in California less than 15 minutes after receiving the first dose of Comirnaty at California State Polytechnic (Cal Poly) University in Pomona. Almost immediately after she got the shot, she started complaining of discomfort. According to Michael Morris, MD, the physician director of Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California vaccination program, which operated the Cal Poly vaccination site, the woman lost consciousness in the observation area minutes after being vaccinated.¹⁰

Dr. Morris said:

[She] received an injection of the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Pfizer around noon. While seated in the observation area after the injection, the patient complained of feeling discomfort and while being evaluated by medical personnel, she lost consciousness. Paramedics on scene began CPR almost immediately and continued, but she ultimately could not be revived.¹⁰

Dr. Morris dismissed a causal relationship between the woman’s death and the vaccination. “Early indications are that this very sad incident is not related to the vaccine,” he said.¹⁰

Yep, another coincidence.

Cases of Death Minutes After Vaccination are Rarely Linked to the Vaccine

In rare cases, a person who suffers an anaphylactic reaction and dies within minutes of getting vaccinated is found by a coroner to have died as a result of the shot. An example of this is the case of Jeanie Evans, 68, who died on Mar. 24, 2021 in Topeka, Kansas the day after receiving the first dose of Moderna/NIAID’s mRNA Spikevax biologic. About 15 to 20 minutes after getting the shot, during the waiting period, Evans reportedly began complaining that her airway felt blocked. She was taken by ambulance to Stormont-Vail Hospital, where she later died.¹⁰

Evans’ autopsy report confirmed that she died of “anaphylaxis due to COVID-19 vaccination.”

That is an amazing admission which very seldom happens. It is like pulling teeth to get a doctor or public health official to even entertain the possibility that a vaccine can cause a severe reaction, much less serious injury or death. Even when the reaction or death occurs within minutes of vaccination.

The myth that all “vaccines are safe and effective” all the time is a mantra that is so deeply engrained in the minds of many vaccine providers working in the fields of medicine and public health, that to veer away from it (even slightly) when confronted with the truth is simply a bridge too far.

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