Quebec has reported the first death related to the administration of AstraZeneca. Horacio Arruda, Quebec’s public health director, confirmed that a 54-year-old woman had died in a Montreal hospital due to blood clotting complications.
“We just had our first patient who has died of a thrombosis, cerebral thrombosis, following from AstraZeneca.”
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Arruda announced during Tuesday’s news conference that though the event is rare, they expected it to happen. He added that the risk of clotting occurring after receiving the vaccine was one person in every 100, 000 doses.
“This is a rare event. We knew that it might happen. We have a risk of default one in every 100, 000 doses today.”
Arruda noted that the benefit of receiving the vaccine already outweighs the risk.
“People don’t get vaccinated to die. It’s rare, and we can’t predict it. But for the population at large, vaccination remains beneficial.”
The woman has been identified as Francine Boyer and her husband both went to get the vaccine on 9th April. However, she started getting tired along with headaches after a few days.
She sought help in a nearby hospital was later transferred to the Montreal Neurological Institute Hospital, she died of cerebral thrombosis on 23rd April.
Premier Francois Legault noted the death with sadness acknowledging that she was in good shape but died because she was vaccinated. However, he insisted that people will still be vaccinated as such cases happen.
Quebec has vaccinated more than 400, 000 people with AstraZeneca, health officials say that three people are still under surveillance for blood clotting. However, it is not yet clear whether the cases are related to the administration of AstraZeneca.
Matthew Oughton, an infectious disease expert also acknowledged that the woman’s death was a tragedy. The vaccine is meant to protect the health of a large population. He added that COVID-19 vaccines come with a small amount of risk.
