Woman Dies Of 'Anaphylactic Reaction' After Getting Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Shot

A 23-year-old woman in Vietnam has died after developing adverse reactions following her second shot of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech.

Officials from the northern Lao Cai province’s health department said the patient received the second shot on the afternoon of Dec. 30. She was staying at the vaccination site for half an hour when she began to feel fatigued, shortness of breath, abdominal pain and nausea, VN Express reported.

The woman, whose identity was not revealed by authorities, received treatment from the medical staff at the vaccination site. She was later transferred to Sa Pa Town General Hospital where she died at 9 p.m.

The young woman did not exhibit any adverse reactions when she received her first Pfizer shot on Nov. 21. The health department said she died of “grade 4 anaphylactic reaction after Covid-19 vaccination due to inherent characteristics of vaccines,” but noted that it was not related to the vaccination process or use of the vaccine, the outlet reported.

Anaphylaxis is a severe and potentially fatal allergic reaction that occurs after the person receives a vaccine shot.

A 2020 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the agency recorded 21 cases of anaphylaxis from more than 1.8 million first doses given between Dec. 14 and 23 of the same year or 11.1 cases per million doses.

The same Pfizer vial that was administered to the 23-year-old was also given to six other people. None of the other recipients developed adverse reactions. She is the fifth person in Vietnam to have died due to adverse reactions to the Pfizer vaccine.

Despite the recent death, health officials continue to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, noting that it offers protection against severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths.

The young woman’s death comes as Vietnam faces a rising number of COVID-19 cases, with officials reporting an average of 16,061 new infections each day, according to an analysis of data by Reuters.

Vietnam has reported a total of 1,778,976 COVID-19 infections and 33,021 COVID-related deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. It is estimated that 76.8% of the country’s population has been fully vaccinated against the virus.