"Deceased with Blood Clots Unrelated to Vaccine... Cause Estimated as Pneumonia and Myocardial Infarction"

On the morning of the 17th, vaccination candidates are receiving vaccines at a local vaccination center drill held at the indoor tennis court vaccination center in Seobuk-gu, Cheonan-si, Chungnam./Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] The health authorities stated that among the people who died after receiving the AstraZeneca (AZ) COVID-19 vaccine in South Korea, there was one case where a blood clot was formed, but there is no connection with the vaccination.

Kim Jung-gon, head of the Vaccination Damage Investigation Team, said at a briefing on the 17th, "The person had a long-term underlying disease, and medical records suggested other possible causes of death, so it was assessed that it was more likely due to other causes than the vaccination," adding, "We concluded that there is no causal relationship with the vaccine."

He elaborated, "At the time of death, the attending medical staff determined the cause of death to be aspiration pneumonia, and after collecting additional data, the investigation team found signs of acute myocardial infarction besides aspiration pneumonia, so it was judged that death could have occurred from these two causes alone."

Kim added, "Considering the timeline of adverse reactions after vaccination, the temporal plausibility is evaluated to be quite low. Also, not only for the COVID-19 vaccine but for other vaccines such as the influenza vaccine, there have been reports of blood clots after vaccination, but the final results have shown no relation between vaccination and blood clot formation."

He also stated, "Since the autopsy is ongoing, results will be notified by the National Forensic Service and the police, and if there are any notable findings, a re-evaluation will be planned."

Park Young-jun, head of the Adverse Reaction Investigation Support Team at the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team, explained, "The damage investigation team's assessment is a 'causality assessment,' which compares outcomes caused by vaccination with outcomes caused by other underlying diseases."

Currently, there is one case identified where a blood clot formed after vaccination. However, the connection between the vaccination and blood clot formation has not yet been confirmed.

Regarding this, Park said, "A person in their 60s with underlying diseases was vaccinated on February 26 and died on March 6," adding, "The case was reported as respiratory failure, and the autopsy-related findings mentioned the presence of blood clots."

He continued, "The initial symptoms reported were pale complexion and difficulty breathing, and respiratory failure progressed while receiving hospital treatment on the same day."

Park stated, "Since accurate and official autopsy results are needed, we plan to review and announce the findings after official confirmation."

The health authorities plan to actively recommend autopsies for cases of death reported after vaccination to accurately identify blood clot formation reactions in the future.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.