No Link Found Yet: Auburn Woman Warns She Saw Grandfather's Aid Die After COVID Vaccine
AUBURN (CBS13) - The Placer County Sheriff's Office announced Saturday that a person tested positive for the virus in late December and died hours after getting the vaccine on Thursday.
Now, there are questions from the community on the safety of the vaccine. An Auburn woman says she witnessed the tragedy first hand.
In a post on Facebook, she said she saw her grandfather's aid, a 56-year-old man, get the vaccine at a senior living facility on Thursday.
"Twenty minutes later he realized his legs felt tingly and he was having shortness of breath. He was wheeled out in an ambulance...1 hour later he was in ICU on a ventilator and three hours later he passed away," she wrote.
She goes on to say "Hearing this broke my families [sic] heart as he has taken care of my grandpa for years, and was there helping as we were coming to say our goodbyes."
Dr. Jeffrey Klausner an infectious disease expert with UCLA, said there have not yet been any deaths associated with the vaccine. Klausner said people shouldn't be so quick to place blame before there are answers on a cause of death in this case.
He does say if a person develops an allergic reaction within 15 minutes of receiving the shot, there is a possibility that reaction could become fatal.
Meanwhile, the County coroner is conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death and the sheriff's office is not confirming the age, gender, where this happened or what vaccine they received.
Dr. Klausner said there have been a few allergic reactions to the vaccine, including trouble breathing or fainting, which can happen within 15 minutes of the dose being given. But he says the risk is low – about 1 in every 250,000 shots.
Multiple agencies are investigating, including the California Department of Health.
Dr. Mark Ghaly, California's Health & Human Services Agency Secretary, acknowledged on Monday that they were investigating, but also stressed that people who have received the Modern and Pfizer vaccines overwhelmingly didn't have a significant reaction.
More from CBS Sacramento: