We should be equally skeptical of reports of "deaths from COVID vaccine" as we have been of various official counts of "deaths from COVID." Dying shortly after receiving one of the COVID vaccines doesn't prove the vaccine caused the death, any more that Dying shortly after testing positive for COVID proves COVID caused the death.

That said, deaths that result from anaphylactic shock reactions within minutes of receiving any kind or vaccine, or any other kind of injection or medication, are likely to actually have been caused by the vaccine/injection/medication. However, anaphylactic shock reactions to these vaccines have been rare, and should be manageable without patient deaths, if the staff administering the vaccines and monitoring recipients during the brief waiting period afterwards, are doing their jobs properly and are equipped with epi-pens and fully authorized to use them without delay or outside approval.

With the huge push to vaccinate tens of millions of people very quickly, I do worry that not all of the workers who are doing the vaccinating and post-vaccination monitoring are up to par. If you are getting one of the COVID vaccines in a setting other than your personal physician's office or in a pharmacy by a pharmacist you are very familiar with, you should ask first "Exactly what happens if I begin to show signs of an anaphylaxis reaction before I leave? Who exactly will be watching me? Where are the epi-pens and who is authorized to use them without first getting permission from someone else?" If there is any hesitation or confusion about the answers to these questions, leave and find another place to get vaccinated. Anaphylaxis is not something that direct patient-care workers can be figuring out how to handle after it has started.

We should be equally skeptical of reports of "deaths from COVID vaccine" as we have been of various official counts of "deaths from COVID." Dying shortly after receiving one of the COVID vaccines doesn't prove the vaccine caused the death, any more that Dying shortly after testing positive for COVID proves COVID caused the death.

That said, deaths that result from anaphylactic shock reactions within minutes of receiving any kind or vaccine, or any other kind of injection or medication, are likely to actually have been caused by the vaccine/injection/medication. However, anaphylactic shock reactions to these vaccines have been rare, and should be manageable without patient deaths, if the staff administering the vaccines and monitoring recipients during the brief waiting period afterwards, are doing their jobs properly and are equipped with epi-pens and fully authorized to use them without delay or outside approval.

With the huge push to vaccinate tens of millions of people very quickly, I do worry that not all of the workers who are doing the vaccinating and post-vaccination monitoring are up to par. If you are getting one of the COVID vaccines in a setting other than your personal physician's office or in a pharmacy by a pharmacist you are very familiar with, you should ask first "Exactly what happens if I begin to show signs of an anaphylaxis reaction before I leave? Who exactly will be wathcing me? Where are the epi-pens and who is authorized to use them without first getting permission from someone else?" If there is any hesitation or confusion about the answers to these questions, leave and find another place to get vaccinated. Anaphylaxis is not something that direct patient-care workers can be figuring out how to handle after it has started.