Utah's chief medical examiner insists 39-year-old mom's death was NOT caused by Moderna vaccine she received four days earlier - despite her family saying she was 'healthy as a horse'
Utah's top medical examiner is urging the public not to jump to conclusions about a 39-year-old mother who died four days after she received 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 results of her autopsy, believe her death may have been the results of complications due to the COVID-19 vaccine because she had no known health issues.
Dr Erik Christensen, Chief Medical Examiner for the Utah Department of Health, disputed that belief this week after Kurill's death garnered national media attention, saying that it was only 'temporally related' to her second vaccine dose.
Christensen said his office hasn't certified any vaccine-related deaths so far and that there doesn't appear to be a link between the death of four Utah residents - one of which is Kurill - and the vaccines.
'We don't have any evidence that there are connections between the vaccines and deaths at this point,' he told Fox News. 'We don't have any indication of that.'
Kassidi Kurill, 39, died four days after receiving her second dose of Moderna's coronavirus vaccine in Utah last month. Pictured: 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 jump to conclusions about Kurill's death
Christensen noted that side effects from the vaccine are common, and that each person's response is determined by their unique biology.
'Certainly, there are side effects of a vaccine that are directly linkable to the vaccine and what's going on in your body,' he said.
'You know, the pain in the arm ...the fever-like symptoms related to your immune response to what was put into you. Those kinds of things clearly happen.'
He said proving the vaccine was a cause of death is very rare, unless there was an immediate case anaphylaxis, which would be an instant death.
An autopsy, which the family are still waiting on, can potentially reveal an undiagnosed condition that may have caused the death, Christensen added.
Kurill's family say the mother-of-one was healthy and had no pre-existing conditions prior to her sudden death.
'She was seemingly healthy as a horse,' Kurill's father, Alfred Hawley, told Fox News.
'She was healthy, happy and active, the greatest mom you ever saw in your life, and then she was so sick that, in less than 12 hours, intubated and on life support.'
Kurill worked as a surgical tech for several plastic surgeons. Healthcare workers in Utah were among the first to be eligible to receive the vaccine.
She received her second vaccine dose on February 1 and began complaining the following day about headaches, nausea and being unable to urinate despite drinking fluids.
Her condition improved slightly on her second day post-vaccination but she took a turn for the worse and was rushed to the hospital on February 4.
'She came in early and said her heart was racing and she felt like she need to get to the emergency room,' her father said.
Kurill received her second vaccine dose on February 1 and began complaining the following day about headache, nausea and being unable to urinate despite drinking fluids
When she arrived at the hospital, Kurill immediately began throwing up as doctors worked to figure out an explanation.
'They did a blood test and immediately came back and said she was very, very sick, and her liver was not functioning,' Hawley said.
Kurill was airlifted that night to the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray where doctors tried to stabilize her for a liver transplant.
Her condition continued to deteriorate to the point that she was unable to talk by the next morning and her heart and kidneys shut down.
'She got worse and worse throughout the day. And at nine o'clock, she passed,' Hawley said.
'It was a total shock. I was even afraid to tell my wife.'
Hawley said that until the family gets other data, they 'must believe there was something with the shot'.
But he did say that he hopes his daughter's experience will not discourage others from getting vaccinated. He urged anyone experiencing symptoms after the vaccine to take them seriously.
'If you have a reaction to it, don't ignore it. Don't be stoic and just say: 'Oh, I'll be fine,' he said. 'Pay attention. If it persists beyond a day, you might ought to go see a doctor. And make sure that you're not another one in a million.'
Loved ones 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. Loved ones set up a GoFundMe campaign to support her daughter Emilia (above together)
Deaths from coronavirus vaccines are extremely rare, according to the CDC's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.
Of the more than 92 million doses administered in the US to date, fewer than 1,700 deaths have been reported.
'To date, VAERS has not detected patterns in cause of death that would indicate a safety problem with COVID-19 vaccines,' the CDC website states.
The FDA requires vaccine providers to report any death after a COVID vaccine to the Vaccine Adverse Event Report System, otherwise known as VAERS.
Four Utah residents are currently listed on that database and one of them is believed to be 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 that is reported.
Deaths from coronavirus vaccines are extremely rare, according to the CDC's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. Of the more than 92 million doses administered in the US to date, fewer than 1,700 deaths have been reported (file photo)
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