Taiwan Compensates Family of Girl Who Died Days After Getting Second Dose of Pfizer’s COVID Shot

The Ministry of Health and Welfare of Taiwan has agreed to pay $114,829 under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) to the family of a young girl in Taoyuan, Taiwan, who died of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) within days of receiving the second dose of Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty COVID-19 messenger RNA (mRNA) shot. The girl, who was between five and 11 years old, went into a coma three days after receiving the shot.^{1 2}

The child underwent an ultrasound scan and was diagnosed with a form of heart inflammation called fulminant myocarditis (FM) that is often caused by a viral infection. A forensic autopsy was performed and found lymphocytic infiltration within the deceased child’s myocardial fibers.^{1 2}

In this case, it was unclear what caused the inflammation, but the possibility that the shot could have played a role in the death could not be ruled out. However, a spokesperson for Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), Lo Yi-chun, said that the getting the second dose of the shot may have increased the child’s risk of developing myocarditis.^{1 2}

In addition to the $114,829 payment, the Taiwanese government will pay the child’s family $9,800 for funeral expenses. The sums are reportedly the highest compensation awarded by the government for an adverse reaction after receiving a COVID shot.^{1 2}

Taiwanese Government Will Provide Vaccine Injury Payments to Others Who Received Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID Shots

The Taiwanese government will also provide vaccine injury compensation to three cases in Taiwan involving Moderna/NIAID’s Spikevax COVID mRNA shot, five cases involving AstraZeneca/Oxford University’s viral vectored Vaxzevria COVID vaccine and one case involving a three-year-old child who received the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine (primarily used against tuberculosis) as a five-month-old baby and developed a bone infection known as osteomyelitis.^{1 2}

The vaccine injury compensation to those who received the Spikevax doses is estimated at $16,300, $650 and $160. Compensation for those who received the Vaxzevria doses is estimated at $9,107, $3,250, $2,440, $980 and $650.³

In the three cases involving the the Vaxzevria vaccine, the individuals were diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a neurological disorder that can result in severe muscle weakness or paralysis that is either temporary or permanent.³

In December 2022, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said it would pay $9,784 under the VICP to the family of an elderly man (in his 70s) in Kaohsiung, Taiwan who died the same day he received a dose of the Spikevax shot. A spokesperson for the VICP stated that the program was unable to definitely determine if the man death was directly caused by the Moderna biologic.^{1 4}

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