Truckers and their supporters continue to protest against the COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Ottawa Colorado Springs Gazette
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Donald Kauerauf, Missouris top health official, during his Senate confirmation hearing on Monday.Credit...Jeanne Kuang/The Kansas City Star, via Associated Press
Missouris top health official, a Republican who opposes mask and vaccine mandates but spoke approvingly of the Covid vaccine, was supposed to have been confirmed by State Senate by Friday.
Instead, conservative state legislators stonewalled the process earlier this week and Donald Kauerauf resigned on Tuesday, becoming the latest public health leader to be forced from office, as the politicized fight about masks, mandates and pandemic response rages on.
Mr. Kaeurauf had been appointed by Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, in July to lead the states Department of Health and Senior Services and had served in the position since September.
At a Monday hearing, Mr. Kaeurauf emphasized his opposition to mandatory masking and vaccination, but repeated his desire to see improvement in Missouris sluggish vaccination rate. Only about half of the states population has received two doses.
Mr. Kaeuraufs statements in favor of vaccinations were apparently enough to doom his confirmation in the Republican-controlled Missouri Senate. The chamber adjourned on Tuesday, opting not to act before the Friday deadline.
Mr. Kaeurauf is just the latest public health leader to be punished for expressing support for vaccines.
Dr. Raul Pino, who leads the Florida Department of Healths office in Orange County, was placed on administrative leave last month after urging employees to get the shot. In an email, he called the offices vaccination rate pathetic. Floridas Health Department is investigating whether Mr. Pinos conduct ran afoul of state laws.
In Nashville, Dr. Michelle Fiscus said she was fired last year after she distributed a memo that noted that older teenagers were eligible to get vaccinated without parental consent per state law. Dr. Fiscus, then Tennessees top immunization leader, said her termination followed outcry from Republican lawmakers in Tennessee.
In the months since her firing, Dr. Fiscus said the security of public health officials has continued to devolve because the legislative body is continuing to sink its fingers into the practice of medicine.
As a former public health official, its really disturbing to continue to see this trend, she said.
Late last year, The New York Times identified more than 500 top health officials who left their jobs in the prior 19 months. They have drawn ire from state leaders and the public for their decisions, and faced other hurdles including mass staff departures, inconsistent funding and dwindling trust in their authority.
Adriane Casalotti, chief of government and public affairs for the National Association of County and City Health Officials, said that the fallout from the departures will have an impact that lasts beyond this pandemic and will leave the country less prepared for the next public health crisis.
What we want out of our public health leaders is to tell us the truth whether or not its politically popular, Ms. Casalotti said. Were going to lose those voices and those are the voices that we need to keep our communities safe and secure.
Some officials, like Mr. Kaeurauf, have become targets of conservatives bristling about testing requirements in schools and encouragement to wear masks. At a Monday hearing in Missouri a day before Mr. Kaeuraufs resignation, protesters lofted posters with messages such as were not guinea pigs and God-given natural immunity. The State Senates Conservative Caucus posted a message of support for the protesters on social media, thanking them for making their voices heard and urging them to keep up the good fight.
Senator Rick Brattin, a member of the caucus, said in an interview on Wednesday that he did not believe that Mr. Kaeurauf was being forthright during his hearing.
Governor Parson said in a statement on Tuesday that the Missouri Senate chose to indulge a few mens egos and to prioritize political gain. The senators had listened to rumors and lies about Mr. Kaeurauf spread on social media, he added.
The events that have transpired over the past few days surrounding Dons Senate confirmation hearing are nothing short of disgraceful, unquestionably wrong, and an embarrassment to this state and the people we serve, the governor said. I pray that honor, integrity and order can be returned to the Missouri Senate and that it comes sooner rather than later.
An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of Missouris governor. He is Mike Parson, not Parsons.
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Covid-19, Vaccine and Testing News: Live Updates - The New York Times
Westchester to reach COVID-19 vaccine holdouts in communities of color The Journal News / Lohud.com
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by: Darren Kramer, Nexstar Media Wire
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) A Connecticut nurse who did not get the COVID-19 vaccine for herself or her teen contracted the virus for a second time.
Camile, who did not provide her last name, is in her second year of being a registered nurse at a major Connecticut hospital. Last fall, she said she was worried about the long-term effects of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Camile also said she was confident she had antibodies from her first case of COVID. A few weeks ago, Camile came down with COVID again while working the overnight shift at her hospital treating cancer patients.
It was about 2 a.m. and all of a sudden I had shortness of breath and I couldnt breathe. In my mind I was thinking, well its probably not COVID because I already had COVID. Its very rare to get it a second time. And then in the morning the headaches, the muscle pain, the fatigue, and then I started having fevers, Camile said.
Camile said she was one of the first of a flurry of COVID-19 cases on her cancer floor.
People werent really popping up with COVID on our staff or on our floor. Our floor was clean at the time. Then I popped up and then everybody pretty much started popping up.
People werent really popping up with COVID on our staff or on our floor. Our floor was clean at the time. Then I popped up and then everybody pretty much started popping up, Camile said.
When asked if she thinks she gave COVID to any of the oncology patients, Camile responded, theres no way to really tell.
Asked if she regrets not getting the vaccine after having COVID on the oncology floor, she said, I maybe would ponder that hypothetical if there wasnt so many vaccinated employees that also got COVID.
Dr. Onyema Ogbuagu is an infectious disease expert at Yale. He said the COVID vaccine is the best way to protect healthcare workers and the patients they serve.
Vaccination does protect robustly against the circulating virus and the newer variants. Boosters are really important for omicron specifically and every healthcare worker would do well to get vaccinated, Dr. Ogbuagu said.
Camiles teenage son asked to get the vaccine, but she wouldnt let him. He got COVID, as well.
When asked if Camile had any regrets about not getting the vaccine after getting COVID twice and working with cancer patients, she said, No. If I had omicron, as they say, Im protected against delta and COVID.
Keep up with the latest news and updates on the coronavirus pandemic. Sign up for the WGN Coronavirus Newsletter and have headlines delivered directly to your inbox.
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The development and mass administration of vaccines allowed many governments to dismantle the costly and restrictive measures put in place to halt the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The sheer scale of the vaccination programs offers very large sample sizes for estimating vaccine effectiveness, which researchers have taken advantage of in their most recent study in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Study: Effectiveness of 3 COVID-19 Vaccines in Preventing SARS-CoV-2 Infections, JanuaryMay 2021, Aragon, Spain. Image Credit: myboys.me/Shutterstock
The researchers studied residents in Aragon, Spain, and conducted a prospective population-based cohort study among the Aragon Health Service users of 16 years old and higher. To be eligible, participants must have evidence of no previous SARS-CoV-2 infection through rtPCR, antigen testing, or IgG testing.
The researchers tracked most vaccine data, except for individuals who received the Janssen vaccine, as the number of individuals who had received it was too low for proper analysis. Each patient was grouped by vaccination status until they were either infected or died from the disease. Following the first dose, patients were defined as exposed up until 12 days for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, two weeks following the Moderna vaccine, and three weeks following the AstraZeneca vaccine. Unvaccinated patients were defined as unexposed.
For patients to be characterized as infected, the presence of SARS-CoV-2 was required to be confirmed by either rapid antigen testing or RT-PCR. Several characteristics were examined to evaluate the risk of confounding effects, including age, sex, work/residency in nursing/residential homes, the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 in the local area, and the number of tests administered in the past six months.
The incidence rate (IR) of SARS-CoV-2 infection was defined as the number of confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections divided by the sum of exposure times for each participant. Unadjusted estimators were computed using a Cox proportional-hazards model that included vaccination status, and unadjusted vaccine efficiency was computed against SARS-CoV-2 infection as 1 minus hazard ratio. Adjusted estimators were computed using the same model type, including the baselines data on most of the characteristics that were at risk of acting as confounders as categorical covariates in the models.
Weekly cumulative incidence (WCI) from each primary care service area and the number of tests administered in the area were added as time variable terms. Each interval was assigned to the previous weeks' WCI, and all intervals were added to the model as individual observations. Age and WCI were split into four categories based on percentiles.
In total, the scientists managed to gather a cohort of 964,258 individuals around 72% of the population of Aragon. Participants' vaccination exposure was stratified by their demographic characteristics. Approximately 242,000 had been vaccinated with one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, slightly less with two doses, ~32,000 with one dose of Moderna and ~15,000 with two, and just under 100,000 with one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Five hundred ninety-two thousand had not been vaccinated.
The researchers found that the unvaccinated participants had a total of 25,767 infections an IR of 1.41/1000 person weeks. This was the highest IR of all vaccine groups, with those who had received one dose of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Oxford-AstraZeneca showing IRs of 0.86, 0.31, and 0.55, respectively. Of the individuals who had received two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, the IRs were 0.23 and 0.21. Unadjusted vaccine effectiveness for each vaccine was calculated at 23.5% for one dose and 76.1% after two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, 69.2% and 78.4% for Moderna, and 43.7% after one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
These figures changed slightly after adjusting for confounding characteristics, with Pfizer-BioNTech showing 20.8% and 76.1%, Moderna showing 52.8% and 70.3%, and AstraZeneca showing 40.3%. The risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection was, as expected, highest for unvaccinated participants 2% at day 44 and 4% at day 154. For most vaccinated participants, the risk remained below 1% for the entire study, except for those who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, as the risk rose to 1% at day 40 before falling again.
The authors highlight that they have successfully shown the effectiveness of different vaccines against SARS-Cov-2 infection and have found different and lower efficacy estimates than official clinical trials. They suggest that the difference in Pfizer-BioNTech results could be due to the cohort's significantly higher percentage of elderly individuals. The difference in results for the Moderna vaccine is put down to low sample sizes in the initial study.
Unfortunately, early worries over the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine halted administration, and the vaccine was almost exclusively applied to the elderly making it difficult to assess the results. The information gathered and analyzed here could be valuable to public health policymakers and vaccine manufacturers and help decide which vaccines governments will prioritize.
Originally posted here:
Study design
This cross-sectional study was conducted from May 2021 to July 2021 in the South of Iran with a web-based self-administered questionnaire. The statistical population of this study included people over 18years old living in 4 southern provinces of Iran (Hormozgan, Kerman, Bushehr and Fars), who had not received COVID-19 vaccine.
Hormozgan province lies in the far south of Iran. It is located in the north side of strait of Hormoz. Kerman province resides in the northern side of Hormozgan province, while Fars and Bushehr provinces are adjacent to the western side. These four southern provinces in Iran have many sociocultural features in common.
When the present research was conducted, according to Iran vaccination document, in the whole country and the above-mentioned provinces, the medical staff as well as all population over 75years of age were being vaccinated. The mortality rate was high in these provinces due to the incomparable temperature, inadequate vaccination, recurrent religious holidays (and the resultant overcrowd). The data collection occurred at the same time as the 5th peak of the pandemic.
Data were collected using a questionnaire designed on the Pors Line platform, an online survey platform in Iran (https://survey.porsline.ir) and was provided to the target group through social media. The questionnaire began with an information letter about the studys purpose, how to answer questions, and informed consent to participate in the study.
Regarding to the existing limitations due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the impossibility of distributing questionnaires in paper form, data were sent to Hormozgan, Kerman, Fars, Bushehr provinces (which are the southern provinces of Iran) through various social media (WhatsApp, Telegram, Linkedin), email, channels and news agencies, public relations of University of Medical Sciences, Red Crescent, Municipality and University Student Research Committee. We recruited participants through a self-selection sampling method and posted an online survey link. After publishing the questionnaire link, the people who received it were asked to complete the questionnaire (if they wished) and send it to other people they know. Finally, the participants registered their answers by clicking the submit button. To emphasize on the greater participation of individuals in the study, messages and links to participate in the study were resent as a reminder two weeks after the first submission.
Also, with the cooperation of health centers in the studied provinces, a questionnaire link was sent to all people covered by healthcare centers in villages and cities. In this study, according to the data collection method, there was no limit on the number of samples.
On the first page of the questionnaire, the purpose of the study was clearly explained and the completion of the questionnaires was completely voluntary. Inclination criteria were at least 18years old and not receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
The inclusion criteria were: the age over 18years, not having been vaccinated, living in cities and villages in the 4 provinces of Hormozgan, Kerman, Bushehr and Fars.
The exclusion criteria was incomplete questionnaires.
The data collection tool was an online questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed based on studies conducted and articles reviewed [8, 13, 14] and the validity of the questionnaire was assessed by content validity method.
To check the content validity, the questionnaire was prepared using valid sources and books and related scientific papers and the necessary proposed corrections were made qualitatively and quantitatively with the approval of 2 experts in health education and health promotion. 7 people were consulted from different socioeconomic statuses, and their comments were used to revise the questionnaire content.
In the qualitative method, experts were asked to review the tool based on the criteria of grammar, use of appropriate words, placement of items in the right place and proper scoring, and provide the necessary feedback.
The reliability of the questionnaire was reviewed and confirmed by assessing the internal correlation of variables (calculating Cronbachs alpha coefficient). The questionnaire consisted of two parts. The first part was demographic information including age, gender, marital status, education level, employment status, underlying diseases, history of smoking, history of individual and family infection with COVID-19, history of receiving the flu vaccine and source of information on COVID 19 vaccines.
The second part of the questionnaire included the constructs of TRA. The construct of attitude towards behavior (to what extent the desired behavior is desirable, pleasant, useful or enjoyable for the person) is influenced by the construct of behavioral beliefs (beliefs of the person about the result of performing a behavior) and outcomes evaluation (the value that a person considers about the result of a behavior) [15]. The construct of behavioral beliefs consisted of 7 questions of 5-item (highly agree to highly disagree) (e.g., I believe in the efficacy and safety of existing COVID-19 vaccines). The outcomes evaluation structure also included 7 questions of 5-Likert (very good to very bad) (e.g., the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines are very good). Attitude score was obtained from the multiplication of the behavioral beliefs construct in the outcomes evaluation construct.
The construct of subjective norms (the amount of social pressure perceived by an individual to perform behavior, that is, the reflection of social effect and influence on the individual) is influenced by the construct of normative beliefs (belief in whether certain people approve or reject the behavior) [16] and the construct of motivation to comply (individuals motivation to comply the wishes of others and accept their expectations) [17]. The normative belief construct consisted of 6 questions 5-Likert (highly agree to highly disagree) (e.g., my family members agree to receive the COVID-19 vaccine). The construct of motivation to comply also consisted of 6 questions 5-Likert (very important to not important at all) (e.g., family members advice to receive the COVID-19 vaccine is very important for me) subjective norms score was obtained from the multiplication of normative beliefs construct in the motivation to comply substructure.
The behavioral intention construct also consisted of 3 questions 5-Likert (highly agree to highly disagree) (e.g., I intend to receive the vaccine if it is time for the COVID-19 vaccine). The score of COVID-19 vaccine receive intention was obtained from the mean score of 3 related questions.
The structure of the theory is depicted in Fig.1.
Theory of Reasoned Action TRA (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975)
Frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation indices were used to describe the data. The assumptions of parametric tests including the T-test and ANOVA were tested and confirmed initially. To test the normality of distribution, the skewness and kurtosis were tested. The skewness was divided by the skewness standard deviation to estimate Fishers exact test, found to range between 1.96 and+1.96. Thus, the normality of data was confirmed. To test the homogeneity of data, Levens test was used. The estimated p-value was over 0.05. To test the linearity of independent variables, VIF was used, which was found to be below 1.2 for all independent variables. T-test statistical tests and one-way analysis of variance were used to test hypotheses and to investigate the relationship between COVID-19 vaccine receive intention and demographic variables (age, gender, occupation, education, marital status, chronic disease, smoking, place of residence, history of receiving the flu vaccine, history of COVID-19, information sources) and multiple linear regression was used to determine the relationship between the constructs of TRA and COVID-19 vaccine receive intention. Also, the statistical technique of path analysis and structural equations modeling (SEM) were used in order to determine how the theoretical structures relate and their effect on each other, to confirm or reject the conceptual model determined for the COVID-19 vaccine receive intention.
There were no missing data in the present study. From the 3034 subjects who returned the completed questionnaires, 478 subjects (15%) stated that they had not received the coronavirus vaccine. They did not meet the inclusion criteria and were, thus, excluded from the study. The final analysis was done with a sample of 2500 subjects.
All statistical calculations and hypothesis testing were conducted using SPSS21 and Amos21 software and a significant level of hypotheses tests was considered 0.05.
All the procedure was done in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The study was approved by the ethics committee of Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences (# IR.HUMS.REC.1400.071). The ethics committee approved the online survey as well as the online consent. All participants who consented to take part in the study were assured that participation was voluntary, and that they could withdraw any time. Besides, the data were anonymized, securely stored and analyzed for publication.
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With forged COVID-19 vaccination cards a hot item on the black market, Pa. police are investigating the theft of 5,000 blank CDC cards stolen from a clinic storage room.
As 6ABC in Philly reports, the theft occurred at a a Center City Philadelphia vaccine clinic run by Penn Medicine.
The cards and N95 masks, which also were taken, were located inside a storage room at Pennsylvania Hospital on South 8th Street, police tell 6ABC.
Police noted that all hospital staff members have access to the storage room, and there were no signs of forced entry. That means the card caper could be an inside job.
The theft comes as vaccine cards are being sold illegally nationwide, 6ABC notes. (Further details below)
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Most recently, two nurses on Long Island were accused of forging COVID-19 vaccination cards and pocketing more than $1.5 million from the scheme, prosecutors and police told the Associated Press.
A Penn Medicine spokesperson issued the following statement to 6ABC about the Pa. incident:
Safety and security are top priorities in all of our facilities. When this issue was discovered, we promptly reported it to the Philadelphia police and are cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Philadelphia police.
Excerpt from:
5,000 blank COVID-19 vaccination cards stolen from Pa. clinic, and it could be inside job - PennLive
COVIDThe controversial regulation is currently tied up in the courts.Protesters demonstrate against Boston Mayor Michelle Wu's vaccine mandate for city workers outside of the Daily Table where Wu was scheduled to appear on Tuesday. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
Tensions are still flaring over Mayor Michelle Wus sought-after COVID-19 vaccine mandate for city employees.
The controversial policy, sharply criticized and rebuked by several of the unions representing city workers, has seen a rather rocky rollout attempt.
The deadline for employees to get a jab of the vaccine or else face termination from their job was pushed back twice last month, as the Wu administration tried to make inroads with the labor groups.
And the policy stalled last week after a Massachusetts Appeals Court judge ordered a temporary stay as the court considers an appeal filed by three first responders unions of a Suffolk Superior Court judges decision to allow the mandate to take hold.
Even outside of court, there promises to be plenty of conversation still to come.
On Wednesday, City Councilor Erin Murphy filed a hearing order to discuss the mandate and any potential agreements the city has tried for with its respective employee unions.
Several councilors expressed concerns over how to balance public health with employee rights, particularly those already afforded to workers in existing collective bargaining agreements.
For them to have agreements and to have this administration come in and basically roll that agreement up and throw it in the trash and totally disrespect, disregard it its a major, major problem, said Councilor Frank Baker.
When exactly the mandate could take hold, if at all, remains unclear.
Heres the latest in the ongoing battle over the mandate:
Wu has remained committed to seeing the mandate through, and legal filings from city attorneys this week show City Hall remains convinced it is on firm legal footing in its argument.
In a response to the appeal filed by Boston Firefighters Local 718, Boston Police Superior Officers Federation, and the Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society, attorneys for the city largely reiterated points made in the superior court and said Judge Jeffrey Locke was right to allow the city to pursue the mandate.
Last month, Locke rejected a request from the trio of unions to block enforcement of the mandate, citing that the public health emergency now is of such a nature that it outweighs competing claims of harm.
The temporary stay by an appeals court judge last week came on the heels of the Boston Police Patrolmens Association the departments largest employee union voting to reject a proposed memorandum of agreement with the city.
The agreement would have granted the approximately 1,600 union members two mental health days to use this year and a path for officers who are unvaccinated to be rehired if they receive the vaccine.
Some unions have said they want the city to allow unvaccinated employees to be tested regularly for the virus, as had been past protocol, in lieu of the mandate.
On Tuesday, Wu said the variety of city-issued restrictions throughout the pandemic are not permanent, but also said virus concerns arent going away for some time.
COVID will be around for a while, the mayor said. Even after we are through this surge, we know it is likely that next fall, next winter, there likely will be another surge. But in the meantime, as were tracking these numbers, these protections are not permanent. They are to make sure that we are safe in the most urgent moments, and we will continue to balance that guarantee of safety through public health policies that are responsive and clear, as well as the need to provide support to our small businesses.
For the record, an overwhelming majority of city employees are in compliance with the would-be mandate: More than 95 percent of workers were vaccinated as of last week, the mayors office told Boston.com on Thursday.
The Boston Police Department and the Boston Fire Department boasted vaccination rates of over 95 percent and 91 percent, respectively, last week as well.
As the court system takes up last weeks appeal, Wu is accused of stonewalling attempts to reach a solution that works for city workers.
Boston Firefighters Local 718 President John Soares said Wednesday his union has made no progress with city officials in recent days because the parties havent met.
Weve had no communications from the Mayor despite what we continue to read in the newspaper, Soares said in a statement. Her continued assertions that progress is being made is misleading at best.
Asked on Thursday for a comment in response to Soaress statements, the mayors office simply stated the mandate has been delayed due to the courts temporary stay.
Murphy, an at-large city councilor elected last fall, on Wednesday filed a hearing order to discuss changes to the memorandum of agreement under the vaccine mandate.
While Murphy said she encourages all Boston residents and employees to be vaccinated, the councilor said she also knows how important strong unions are to the quality of life for all Bostonians.
The mandate for COVID-19 vaccination is requiring a condition of work that is not in the contract, she said. All workers, I believe, have the right to a safe workplace and also have a right to have their voices heard through collective bargaining. Any changes that are made to the MOA should have the opportunity to be collectively bargained before any change to work conditions go into place.
Baker, who represents District 3, directed his criticism at Wu, lamenting the council had not been offered the chance to weigh in on the mandate creating a lack of transparency nor the opportunity to discuss how the city is addressing the collective bargaining component.
Why are we allowing this administration to just take those contracts and throw them out without discussions? Baker asked. Theyve never come in front of us. Nobody has asked our opinion on where we are on this thing.
We cant just throw away collective bargaining like this, he added later in his remarks. Its a bad, bad road to go on.
Other councilors suggested the city should entertain a testing requirement for employees.
I firmly believe that testing has to remain a critical component along with social distancing and masking up where appropriate, etc., Councilor Michael Flaherty said. So, that said, I will continue to ask the administration and the municipal unions to come to the table and to bargain in good faith.
Council President Ed Flynn emphasized the need to come together.
Its important that we work together during this very critical time in our city, he said.
Read the hearing order:
MOA REV Collective Bargaining Hearing (1) by Christopher Gavin on Scribd
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Heres where things stand for Bostons COVID-19 vaccine mandate - Boston.com
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A medical examiner's report concludes that the sudden death of a Saginaw County teenager was not caused by the COVID-19 vaccine he received three days earlier.
SAGINAW COUNTY, Mich. (WJRT) - An investigation has been completed into the death of a 13-year-old Saginaw boy who died a few days after receiving his second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Jacob Clynick died last June and a number of agencies, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, investigated his death to see whether the vaccine played any role.
It was an extensive investigation that took quite some time, but they found no evidence that there was any relationship between the vaccine and the Clynick's death.
Clynick, who lived in Zilwaukee, had just finished eighth grade and was about to become a high school freshman last fall.
He died in his sleep in his bedroom on June 16. Just three days earlier, he had received his second Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a Walgreens, which raised questions about a relationship to the vaccine administered.
The Michigan Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine, which had a death investigation services contract with Saginaw County at that time, conducted an initial investigation, along with law enforcement.
A press release from current Saginaw County Medical Examiner, Dr. Russell Bush, who was with MIFSM at the time of the teenager's death, indicates Clynick's and his family's past and recent medical histories were reviewed.
A complete forensic and medical autopsy was completed.
MIFSM met with infections disease research scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who received all data and information that had been gathered.
In the end, the CDC and local investigators concluded that there was no evidence of a causal relationship between vaccine administration and Clynick's death. An exact cause of his death was never determined.
Don Clynick, who is Jacob's grandfather, said he remains firmly convinced that the Pfizer vaccine is what triggered his grandson's death.
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