Investigation finds 'no deaths' in Utah caused by COVID-19 vaccines
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Utah's Office of the Medical Examiner issued a statement Thursday stating that no deaths in Utah have been caused by COVID-19 vaccines to date. The statement was sent out by the Utah Department of Health and was a joint statement from both government entities.
The OME said it has completed investigations into reported deaths where those who died had recently received the COVID-19 vaccine. Legally the office is required to keep details of these investigations confidential unless the late person's family provides permission for the office to discuss the findings publicly. The statement says:
The OME has determined there have been NO DEATHS caused by the COVID-19 vaccines to date in Utah. The OME is committed to investigating any deaths that fall under its jurisdiction where decedents had recently received the COVID-19 vaccine.
The statement also called on media not to report information that could erode confidence in vaccines.
"To that end, we call on members of the media to wait for all the facts to be known prior to reporting information that could lead to undue diminished confidence in these life-saving vaccines."
KUTV recently reported about a woman who died four days after receiving her second dose of the vaccine. The story reported that the medical examiner's investigation was not complete. The story received national attention and wasn't specifically named by Thursday's statement that also said:
The COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. They are how we will end this pandemic.
We will continue to investigate reports of serious side effects. Public confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine is critical, and providing absolute transparency on the vaccine's side effects is our goal.
Utah Department of Health reports the process for recording deaths in Utah on its pandemic website coronavirus.utah.gov/covid-19-deaths/. The political and ideological division have led some to be openly skeptical of the COVID-19 death toll in the United States and globally.
"This is the same process used for any death in Utah," the website states.
To date, the state has recorded 2,041 deaths from COVID-19 while 714,049 people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, a significantly greater number than the 380,340 test-confirmed coronavirus cases in the sate of the more than 2.3 million people tested 4 million times.
KUTV has also recorded UDOH data daily since the pandemic first hit Utah, tracking weekly case totals. The latest of these stories is available here: March 18 data: 5 new COVID-19 deaths as cases stay by 500 mark.
The CDC said results from monitoring efforts are reassuring. It reported:
Over 109 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered in the United States from December 14, 2020, through March 15, 2021. During this time, VAERS received 1,913 reports of death (0.0018%) among people who received a COVID-19 vaccine. CDC and FDA physicians review each case report of death as soon as notified and CDC requests medical records to further assess reports. A review of available clinical information including death certificates, autopsy, and medical records revealed no evidence that vaccination contributed to patient deaths.
The following links are also made available daily in COVID-19 reports at KUTV.com.
For more from Utah's coronavirus website, including vaccination information click here.
For more information about where to get vaccinated in Utah click here.
For more from CDC's COVID-19 website, click here.
For COVID-19 data gathered from around the world, click here.
For more coronavirus-related stories, click here.
