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ansible

(1,718 posts)
Wed Jan 27, 2021, 07:36 PM Jan 2021

California health care worker dies after second dose of COVID vaccine, investigations underway

Tim Zook’s 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 there’s 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, he’d 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/

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Mike Nelson

(10,943 posts)
1. Very sad...
Wed Jan 27, 2021, 07:41 PM
Jan 2021

... it won't let me read the link, but maybe other media will run stories. RIP Mr Zook.

Karadeniz

(24,746 posts)
2. Oh, no, poor man! So fast...he didn't get Covid. We'll find out what the vaccine set off... Although
Wed Jan 27, 2021, 07:41 PM
Jan 2021

The first vaccine doesn't appear to have had any bad effect. No other reports, so it wasn't a bad vial.

SunSeeker

(58,278 posts)
6. He worked with covid patients.
Wed Jan 27, 2021, 08:01 PM
Jan 2021

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:



Zook, 60, was an X-ray technologist at South Coast Global Medical Center in Santa Ana. There were suspicions of COVID and a diagnosis of congestive heart failure. Zook was put on oxygen, then — just four hours later — a BiPAP machine to help push air into the lungs. Multiple tests came back negative for COVID. Zook had high blood pressure, but that had been controlled with medication for years, she said. He was slightly overweight, but quite healthy. “He had never been hospitalized. He’d get a cold and be over it two days later. The flu, and be over it three days later,” she said.

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 Zook’s 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 Zook’s 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 it’s determined there may be a correlation to the vaccine, we will immediately notify the OC Health Care Agency,” she said.
https://www.ocregister.com/2021/01/26/health-care-worker-dies-after-second-dose-of-covid-vaccine-investigations-underway/


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)
7. Considering his proximity to COVID patients...
Wed Jan 27, 2021, 08:41 PM
Jan 2021

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)
8. Pre-covid, N95 masks sold for about 50 cents. They cost about 25 cents each to make.
Wed Jan 27, 2021, 09:05 PM
Jan 2021

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)
10. When my mother was in her mid- 80s...
Thu Jan 28, 2021, 03:59 AM
Jan 2021

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)
11. Not only are they valuable, but it may have saved your life wearing them this past year.
Thu Jan 28, 2021, 04:13 AM
Jan 2021

I'm sure your mom would be really happy about that.

sinkingfeeling

(57,832 posts)
4. Scary for those of us who have had serious reactions to medicines/vaccines before. I'm really
Wed Jan 27, 2021, 07:44 PM
Jan 2021

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.

sinkingfeeling

(57,832 posts)
16. Don't know. Think he was just leery because I've had bad reactions
Thu Jan 28, 2021, 09:06 AM
Jan 2021

to so many medications. Penicillin caused the worse ones and I carry a card in my billfold stating not to administer it.

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