Utah’s leading medical investigator is appealing to the public not to reach conclusions about a 39-year-old mother who died four days after receiving her second dose of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine.
Kassidi Kurill, of Ogden, died on February 5 after falling ill and being rushed to hospital.
Her family, who are still awaiting the outcome of her autopsy, believe her death could have been due to complications due to the COVID-19 vaccine because she had no health issues.
Dr. Erik Christensen, chief medical investigator at the Utah Department of Health, disputes this belief this week after Kurill’s death, caught the media’s attention, saying it was only ‘temporarily’ related to her second vaccine dose.
Christensen said his office has so far not certified any vaccine-related deaths and that there appears to be no link between the deaths of four Utah residents, one of whom is Kurill, and the vaccines.
“We have no evidence at this stage that there is a link between vaccines and deaths,” he told Fox News. “We have no indication of that.”
Kassidi Kurill, 39, died four days after receiving her second dose of Moderna’s corona virus vaccine in Utah last month. In the photo: Kurill with her nine-year-old daughter Emilia
Dr. Erik Christensen (pictured), chief medical examiner for the Utah Department of Health, urged the public not to draw conclusions about Kurill’s death
Christensen noted that side effects of the vaccine are common, and that everyone’s response is determined by their unique biology.
“There are definitely side effects of a vaccine that can be directly linked to the vaccine and that go on in your body,” he said.
‘You know, the pain in the arm … the feverish symptoms associated with your immune response to what has been put into you. These things are clearly happening. ‘
He said that the evidence of the vaccine being a cause of death is very rare, unless there is an immediate anaphylactic case, which would be an immediate death.
An autopsy that the family is still waiting for could reveal an undiagnosed condition that may have caused the death, Christensen added.
According to Kurill’s family, the mother-of-one was healthy and had no conditions before her sudden death.
“She was apparently healthy as a horse,” Kurill’s father, Alfred Hawley, told Fox News.
“She was healthy, happy and active, the greatest mother you have ever seen in your life, and then she was so ill that she intubated and was life-supporting in less than twelve hours.”
Kurill has worked as a surgical technology for several plastic surgeons. Healthcare workers in Utah were among the first to be able to receive the vaccine.
She received her second dose of vaccine on February 1 and started complaining the next day about headaches, nausea and that she could not urinate even though she was drinking fluids.
Her condition improved slightly during her second day after vaccination, but she took a turn and was rushed to the hospital on February 4th.
“She came early and said her heart was racing and she felt she had to go to the emergency room,” her father said.
Kurill received her second dose of vaccine on February 1 and the next day started complaining of headaches, nausea and inability to urinate even though he was drinking fluids
When she arrived at the hospital, Kurill immediately started vomiting while doctors worked to get an explanation.
“They did a blood test and immediately came back and said she was very, very sick and that her liver was not functioning,” Hawley said.
Kurill was airlifted that evening to the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray where doctors were trying to stabilize her for a liver transplant.
Her condition continued to deteriorate so she could not speak the next morning and closed her heart and kidneys.
“She got worse during the day. And at nine o’clock she’s over, ‘Hawley said.
“It was a total shock. I was even afraid to tell my wife. ‘
Hawley said that until the family gets other information, ‘they have to believe there was something wrong with the shot’.
But he did say that he hoped his daughter’s experience would not discourage others from being vaccinated. He appealed to anyone experiencing post-vaccine symptoms to take it seriously.
‘If you respond to it, do not ignore it. Do not be stoic and just say, ‘Oh, I’m fine,’ he said. ‘Pay attention. If it lasts longer than a day, you should see a doctor. And make sure you’re not one in a million again. ‘
Lovers set up a GoFundMe campaign to support Kurill’s nine-year-old daughter, Emilia.
An autopsy is underway to determine the cause of Kurill’s sudden death. Lovers set up a GoFundMe campaign to support her daughter Emilia (pictured above)
Coronavirus vaccine deaths are extremely rare, according to the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.
Of the more than 92 million doses administered so far in the United States, fewer than 1,700 deaths have been reported.
“To date, FATHERS have not detected death-causing patterns that would indicate a safety issue with COVID-19 vaccines,” the CDC website said.
The FDA requires vaccine providers to report any deaths after a COVID vaccination to the Vaccine Adverse Event Report System, also known as VAERS.
Four Utah residents are currently listed in the database and one of them is presumably Kurill.
Anyone can submit reports to the VAERS database, including family, next of kin and doctors. It is an unverified reporting system that does not determine if a vaccine caused the death reported.
Coronavirus vaccine deaths are extremely rare, according to the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. Of the more than 92 million doses administered so far in the US, less than 1,700 deaths have been reported (file photo)