According to Iris Cardona, chief medical officer for the Health Dept. of Puerto Rico, the agency has reported 102 deaths after the vaccine was administered. She explained that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) receives reports of people who have died within six to eight weeks after taking any of the three drugs against covid-19: Pfizer , Moderna or Johnson & Johnson. This agency then investigates the deaths to determine the cause.
“You have to wait for the concrete analysis to be done. We certainly cannot speak of conclusions. We have to wait for the investigation to be done ”, she pointed out. “The cases, statistically, are not significant because we cannot say that the person was vaccinated and that the cause of death was the vaccine. When we look at the research, some of these people had pre-existing medical conditions or advanced age, ”she added.
1,142 adverse reactions to the vaccine have been reported on the island, the vast majority (82%) of which have not been serious. At least 54 people have required some type of intervention that can range from a visit to the emergency room, receiving some medication, to hospitalizations that have not lasted more than several days.
Of these cases, Cardona said, there are 24 patients under 18 years of age, of which 22 were classified as non-serious (91.7%) and two as serious non-lethal (8.3%). Salud began about three weeks ago to vaccinate people from the age of 12.
“It is something that we discussed with the CDC. We have three reports in the myocarditis surveillance system. There may be one or two more. What we have reported are three cases of young patients, all vaccinated. It is something that we report to the CDC and they are vigilant, ”said the official. “Until today (yesterday) they have told us that it does not go out of the expected. They did make some recommendations to the immunization programs so that we can have a discussion with the doctors who care for young people so that they are aware of myocarditis ”, she pointed out.
