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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCalifornia health care worker dies after second dose of COVID vaccine, investigations underway
Tim Zooks last post on Facebook brimmed with optimism. Never been so excited to get a shot before, he wrote on Jan. 5, above a photo of the Band-Aid on his arm and his COVID-19 vaccination card. I am now fully vaccinated after receiving my 2nd Pfizer dose.
Shortly after midnight on Jan. 7, the hospital called. Zook was in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator to help him breathe. But his blood pressure soon dropped and he was transferred to UC Irvine Medical Center. On Friday I get a call, His kidneys are failing. He needs to be on dialysis. If not, he could die but theres also a chance he might have a heart attack or stroke on dialysis because his blood pressure is so low, Rochelle Zook said.
By 4 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, Zook had gone code blue twice and was snatched back from the brink of death. There was a third code blue in the afternoon. They said if he went code blue a fourth time, hed have brain damage and be a vegetable if he survives, Rochelle Zook said.
Later that day, Tim Zook died.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/01/27/health-care-worker-dies-after-second-dose-of-covid-vaccine-investigations-underway/
Mike Nelson
(10,943 posts)... it won't let me read the link, but maybe other media will run stories. RIP Mr Zook.
Karadeniz
(24,746 posts)The first vaccine doesn't appear to have had any bad effect. No other reports, so it wasn't a bad vial.
uponit7771
(93,532 posts)Cha
(319,067 posts)SunSeeker
(58,278 posts)Last edited Wed Jan 27, 2021, 08:37 PM - Edit history (1)
My guess is he got covid after his first shot and the symptoms kicked in after his second shot, by coincidence. His covid tests came back negative, but there is a high (almost 50% for some tests) false negative rate for covid tests.
This happened in my Orange County here in California.
From the Orange County Register:

His death has been reported to the national Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, run by the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control. The Orange County coroner has said the cause of death is inconclusive for now, and further toxicology testing will take months.spokesman for Pfizer-BioNTech said the company is aware of Zooks death and is thoroughly reviewing the matter.
Our immediate thoughts are with the bereaved family, the company said in an emailed statement. We closely monitor all such events and collect relevant information to share with global regulatory authorities. Based on ongoing safety reviews performed by Pfizer, BioNTech and health authorities, (the vaccine) retains a positive benefit-risk profile for the prevention of COVID-19 infections. Serious adverse events, including deaths that are unrelated to the vaccine, are unfortunately likely to occur at a similar rate as they would in the general population.
The Orange County Coroner has an open death investigation into Zooks death and will be conducting additional tests within its autopsy protocol, spokeswoman Carrie Braun said. It will use those findings, along with autopsy findings, to make a final determination into the cause and manner of death. If its determined there may be a correlation to the vaccine, we will immediately notify the OC Health Care Agency, she said.
Note in the above picture he is not wearing an N95 mask. Many hospitals reserve/ration N95 masks to only key personnel, because they don't have enough masks (thanks Trump!). He was an x-ray tech, so I bet he was denied an N95 mask, since he didn't work in the ER. But he was x-raying lungs of covid patients.
SergeStorms
(20,584 posts)I'd say not having a N95 mask to wear is almost criminal. He might not have contracted it via breathing either. In a hospital setting nearly every surface could be loaded with the live virus. Still, not having a N95 mask is ridiculous. It probably cost him his life. Thanks again, "he who shall remain unnamed ". Your total lack of interest in stopping this virus has caused hundreds of thousands of lives. You should be made to visit a COVID ward with absolutely no PPE whatsoever. Even though you've had the disease, a whopping viral load would probably have you in no time. Oh, and you get the same treatment as everyone else in the ward. Nothing special for you, you worthless piece of shit.
SunSeeker
(58,278 posts)It is absolutely criminal that Trump did not invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) to make N95 masks. Every man, woman and child in the US should have been alotted five N95 masks each, for free.
Biden just invoked the DPA to produce masks and vaccines. https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/21/22242472/biden-defense-production-act-covid-vaccine-mask
SergeStorms
(20,584 posts)she developed some serious respiratory problems. I went online and bought 100 N95 masks and I think it cost me about $30. One N95 mask will cost anywhere from $10-15 apiece on Ebay right now
After she died and we were cleaning out her condo, I found the boxes of masks I'd bought for her. I'm glad I had the forethought to save them and not trash them. That was January 2019. Who knew that a year later they'd be worth their weight in gold.
SunSeeker
(58,278 posts)I'm sure your mom would be really happy about that.
uponit7771
(93,532 posts)SunSeeker
(58,278 posts)sinkingfeeling
(57,832 posts)concerned. My history was enough for a CDC doctor to decline to give me Yellow Fever vaccine prior to my trip to Kenya and Tanzania in late 2019.
moonscape
(5,722 posts)vaccine or the fact its live?
sinkingfeeling
(57,832 posts)to so many medications. Penicillin caused the worse ones and I carry a card in my billfold stating not to administer it.