The state’s investigation into a woman’s death shortly after receiving a coronavirus vaccine ruled that the shot did not contribute to the fatality but she had COVID-19 and suffered other medical complications.

The private investigation, which included an autopsy, indicated negative COVID-19 test results and evidence of a blood clot that investigators believed was linked to the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine, she said.

Keyes received a first dose of Pfizer vaccine Jan. 30 and died shortly after at VCU Tappahannock Hospital. A report documenting her case in the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System said she began having trouble breathing in the parking lot of her vaccination site about 20 minutes after getting the shot. She then began vomiting every 20 to 30 seconds.

Keyes was treated at the site with epinephrine shots in her leg and arm and medicine through an oxygen mask, according to the report. When medics transferred her to a stretcher to get her in an ambulance, she became unresponsive.

The state’s investigation, which did not include an autopsy, ruled she died naturally — of complications arising from hypertensive cardiovascular disease and COVID-19, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Other significant conditions, it said, were Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity and hypoventilation syndrome, a breathing disorder.

“The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is unable to comment on the death of Ms. Keyes other than to confirm the cause and manner of death,” chief medical examiner Dr. William Gormley said in a statement released to The Virginian-Pilot on Friday. “Ms. Keyes did not experience an anaphylactic reaction. We continue to offer our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Ms. Keyes.”

Severe and sudden allergic reactions after COVID-19 vaccinations continue to be extremely rare, federal health officials say. Over 245 million shots were administered in the United States from mid-December through April. During that time, the federal surveillance system received 4,178 reports of death, or about 2-5 per million vaccinations. The existence of a report does not necessarily mean a vaccine caused the death, officials say.

In March, Jones said the family decided to get a private autopsy because the state did not perform one. At the time, her relatives hoped it would shed more light on what happened to Keyes, a church minister and supervisor for the Middle Peninsula Northern Neck Community Services Board.

Hmmm

few cases like this are uncommon