WELLINGTON – New Zealand reported its first recorded death linked to United States drugmaker Pfizer’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine, the health ministry said on Monday after a woman suffered a rare side effect leading to inflammation of her heart muscle.
The vaccine monitoring panel attributed the death to myocarditis, a rare but known side effect of the Pfizer vaccine.
Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle that can limit the organ’s ability to pump blood and cause changes in heartbeat rhythms.
In response, Pfizer said it recognized there could be rare reports of myocarditis after vaccinations, but such side effects were extremely rare.(Reuters)
