June 24, 2021- 7:41 p.m.
A 13-year-old Saginaw County male died last week, three days after he received his second dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
The teen’s death has been reported to the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and is under investigation by federal health to determine if there is a correlation between the death and vaccination, according to the Saginaw County Health Department.
County health officials did not identify the teen, or include details pertaining to the cause of death. They were notified of the death by the county medical examiner on Thursday, June 17, and put out a brief statement Wednesday afternoon, June 23.
Because the teen was recently vaccinated, his death was reported to the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) for further investigation.
“Loss of life in an adolescent for any reason is heartbreaking,” reads a statement from the health department. “Health officer Chris Harrington, MPH, and medical director Delicia Pruitt, MD, are mothers of children near the boy’s age, so it hits close to home for them.”
As of Wednesday, the VAERS system did not include an entry for a Michigan teen who died in June.
Michigan has gotten a first-dose vaccine to 328,675 residents ages 12-to-19, and a second-dose shot to 265,905 individuals in that age range.
Comparatively, there have been 141,865 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in youth 19 years and younger since the start of the pandemic, and at least 16 residents in that age range have died from their illness.
The CDC’s independent advisory group of vaccine experts met Wednesday to discuss reports of myocarditis — inflammation of the heart muscles — in adolescents and young adults within days after getting vaccinated. The CDC estimates that the condition is occurring in about three cases per million after a first-dose shot, and 16 cases per million after a second dose.
