California Mom Dies Of COVID-19 Weeks After Getting Pfizer Vaccine

KEY POINTS

The 50-year-old mother and stepmother of six died of COVID-19 on Oct. 18
She was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia six days after receiving her first Pfizer dose
The woman's daughter believes she would still be alive had she gotten vaccinated earlier

A woman in San Diego, California, contracted COVID-19 and died just weeks after receiving her first dose of the vaccine.

Maria Troutman, of Encanto, died on Oct. 18 — a day after she turned 50, ABC 10 reported. The mother and stepmother of six had been placed on a ventilator in early October after being admitted to the hospital with COVID-19-induced pneumonia, according to the outlet.

Troutman, who had several underlying health conditions, including diabetes, received her first Pfizer vaccine jab on Sept. 12. She initially hesitated to get inoculated when she first qualified for a COVID-19 vaccine. She previously experienced not being able to get out of bed for days after receiving a flu shot years ago, the report said.

Crystal Keller, Troutman's 26-year-old daughter, said her mother "didn't want to feel like that again." However, Troutman decided to get vaccinated last month following a vaccine mandate at her husband's workplace.

"If he has to get vaccinated, then she will too," Keller was quoted as saying.

Troutman, however, reportedly started feeling sick days after she received her first dose.

The mother suffered a fever and chills and lost her sense of taste and smell, according to Keller. Troutman was later admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 pneumonia, six days after she received her vaccine.

Troutman's blood pressure dropped due to internal bleeding in her brain on the morning of her 50th birthday. She was left brain dead after doctors were unable to treat her, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help with the costs for Troutman's cremation arrangements.

Keller said she believes that the loss of her mother, whom she described as "devoted," "selfless" and "smart," could have been avoided if she had been vaccinated earlier.

"I feel and believe that if she had gotten vaccinated, she would be alive today," Troutman's daughter said.

Keller, who is vaccinated but recently tested positive for COVID-19 and suffered mild symptoms, has urged others to get vaccinated following her mother's death as she did not "want them to feel the pain [she] went through."

Troutman's GoFundMe page has raised $1,260 out of its $10,000 goal as of writing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective.

More than 45.6 million COVID-19 cases and 739,259 deaths have been reported in the U.S. as of Tuesday, according to government data published by The New York Times.