Markian Hawryluk| Kaiser Health News
Bend, Ore.Monica Melkonianwanted the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. It was only one shot and then she would be protected against the virus. So she was thrilled when the vaccination clinic at theDeschutes County Fair & Expo CenteronApril 7had her first choice.
But onApril 13, Melkonian started experiencing headaches, a sharp pain behind her left eye. That same day federal health officials announced a pause in the use of the J&J vaccine after learning that six people had developed a rare blood-clotting disorder following their shots.
Despite her ongoing headaches, she and her husband,Stan Thomas, spent the next Saturday working around their home. He hung a ceiling fan in their garage where he works on motorcycles. She spent the day pulling weeds. They walked their lot identifying the projects they wanted to complete that summer. Late into the evening, they soaked in their hot tub, drinking champagne and margaritas, eating strawberry shortcake. They watched the moon rise and the stars come out in the darkCentral Oregonsky.
We were literally talking about how amazing our lives have been and how lucky we were, Thomas said.
Less than a week later, she was dead.
The 52-year-old woman is one of only nine people in theU.S.known to have died from vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia, a rare side effect of the J&J vaccine, and a victim of tragic timing. Thomas believes his wife would be alive today had the information about potential side effects been shared even a few days earlier. Instead, he is left to tell her story and protect her legacy.
Both were experts in the field of occupational health and safety and directly involved with the pandemic response. Both knew a one-in-a-million risk of the COVID-19 vaccines paled in comparison with the risks of the virus itself. And while Thomas remains steadfastly pro-vaccine and bristles at the idea of the anti-vaccine movement capitalizing on his wifes death, he questions whether health authorities have done enough to help people understand their vaccination options.
According to data compiled by theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, women between ages 30 and 49 appear to be at highest risk for the complication that killed Melkonian. Federal health officials now recommend everyone take thePfizerorModernamRNA vaccines instead. Theyve left the J&J vaccine on the market to avoid undermining confidence in a vaccine that will likely play a crucial role in bringing the global pandemic to an end.
Its a decision that Melkonians death helped illuminate. Her case was presented to the experts who made that recommendation.
Now Thomas is fighting to ensure her sacrifice is not forgotten. Its easy to lose sight of the humanity hidden in the statistics of risk.
When its 8 million doses and two people are going to die from it, he said, who thinks its going to be you?
Melkonian and Thomas had met while working as fatality investigators for theOregon Occupational Healthand Safety department. He had been her mentor in 1996, overseeing her first inspections. After their respective marriages ended, their friendship turned to romance, and they got married in 2007. When COVID-19 hit, their jobs centered on the pandemic. Thomas oversaw planning for Oregons nonmedical response, while Melkonian worked for a software company that helped companies track vaccinations.
From day one, the pandemic was part of this household, Thomas said. There was no escaping it.
They talked frequently about the coming COVID-19 vaccines and the differences among them. They recognized that all three were safe and effective, and that the possibility of a bad side effect was minimal. He wanted mRNA vaccines. She wanted to be protected as soon as possible, and the one-dose J&J vaccine seemed it would accomplish that faster.
You definitely hit the jackpot, Thomas recalled telling her after she got her shot. You should go buy a lottery ticket, because todays your lucky day.
It turns out it was a lottery no one wants to win. The chance of a woman her age dying from the shot was literally 1 in 1 million.
A month later, we realized once that needle hit her arm, it was a one-way ticket to here, Thomas said.
On that day working around their home, her headaches had mostly gone. They went to bed basking in the warmth of their perfect day. But at4 a.m.the next day,April 18, Thomas heard Melkonian cry out and hit the floor. She had experienced a seizure and couldnt move her right arm. Thomas suspected a stroke and immediately thought of the vaccine.
No! This isnt happening to me, Melkonian cried out as Thomas spoke with the 911 operator.
As they waited for the ambulance, they used those precious minutes to tell each other the kinds of things you say when you dont know what the future will hold. By the time the ambulance arrived, she could no longer speak.
The progression of this was just lightning-fast, Thomas said, which I am tragically grateful for.
At the St. CharlesBendemergency room, Thomas told her to squeeze his hand once for yes and twice for no, as doctors asked her questions.
The last thing that I said to her was that I loved her and asked her to squeeze my hand twice, Thomas said. She did.
They rolled her out of the room to get a CT scan, and when she returned, she couldnt respond in any way.
We're offering a great rate on digital subscriptions. Click here.
Dr.Scott Rewinkel, a neurologist who specializes in clinically complex patients at the hospital, was paged about a seizure patient. He reviewed Melkonians CT scan. She had experienced several brain bleeds on the left side of her frontal lobe.
And thats an unusual spot for somebody her age and her general health, he said.
Just days earlier, Rewinkel and his neurology colleagues at the hospital had discussed guidelines for identifying and treating the very condition that had struck Melkonian. Its a paradoxical condition in which the immune system destroys the platelets needed for clotting, while leading to blood clots in the venous sinuses of the brain. The patient experiences clotting and bleeding at the same time.
Thomas thought if he could just get his wife home, shed be all right.
That was my hope: Get her back, and then therapy and everything, and we can still go have fun and live our lives, Thomas said. By Sunday night, that hope was gone.
Despite doing everything called for in the treatment guidelines, doctors were struck by how quickly her condition deteriorated. Every successive CT scan showed the bleeding spreading over more of her brain. There was one last-ditch effort they could try. They could open her skull to allow the brain to swell outside its fixed confines. But her brain had already been so damaged, she likely would have faced significant disabilities. The bleeds had hit areas of the brain associated with language and personality.
Who am I getting back? Thomas recalled asking the doctor as they weighed the procedure. What Im getting back is somebody thats going to be sitting in a wheelchair with drool running down her stomach, not knowing what shes looking at off the deck.
The doctors estimated that without further intervention Melkonian would die by the end of the week. Thomas told them to take any blood or tissue samples, to run any tests that might help doctors understand why the J&J vaccine was causing this side effect or how to reverse it.
The body is a vessel for the soul, and the soul is gone. So get what you can, Thomas said he told them.
On the afternoon ofApril 20, some 200 doctors, nurses and other staffers lined the hospital hallway as they pushed Melkonian on her final journey. Thomas, along with her son and her brother, walked behind them. Then they went outside the hospital, lowered the American flag, and raised the Donate Life flag beneath it, while inside doctors removed her organs. Her liver and right kidney went to a 40-year-old man, her left kidney to a 50-year-old man, her heart to a 40-year-old man.
Three days later, aCDCadvisory council reviewed the data on the J&J vaccine and recommended lifting the 10-day pause. The committee members felt taking one of the approved vaccines off the market would hamper vaccination efforts, and that the one-dose vaccine offered important benefits for people who might be difficult to bring back for a second shot, or for places where the super-cold storage required for the mRNA vaccines might not be available.
Then the FDA updated its fact sheet on the vaccine, advising women under 50 of the potential side effect. Rewinkel had presented Melkonians case so it could be included in the analysis.
The big takeaway is that the risk is very, very small, Rewinkel said. Its simply a game of statistics and numbers.
The odds of having a complication from a COVID-19 vaccine, he said, are incredibly small compared with the risks of the virus.
In December, the committee reviewed updated data on the J&J vaccine throughAugust 2021. After more than 14 million doses were administered, 54 total cases of the clotting disorder had resulted in eight deaths. Thats 0.00006%. TheU.S.case fatality rate for COVID-19 is 1.2%. A ninth clotting death occurred but doesnt change the death rate measurably.
The committee considered whether the now ample supply of the mRNA vaccines meant the J&J vaccine could be pulled, but decided to leave it in place. Instead, the panel recommended the mRNA vaccines over the J&J shot. The J&J shots are still being given and more than 18 million shots have been administered in theU.S.
Thomas inquired about aFederal Emergency Management Agencyprogram to help with burial costs for people who died of COVID-19 but was told his wife was not eligible because her death certificate didnt list COVID-19 as the cause of death. To Thomas, such rules seem to ignore her death as part of the full toll of pandemic fatalities.
Shes a hero of the times that were living in, in this pandemic, in this world which we are faced with today, he said, for the legacy of the work she did, and doing her societal obligations, and giving her life for it.
Thomas is also upset that the risks of the various vaccines werent communicated earlier and more clearly.
Theyre not taking time to explain the acceptable risk, he said. Theyre not taking time to communicate what shots are good for what age groups."
Maybe officials didnt know of the risk before Melkonian got her shot rare side effects often emerge only when a vaccine is administered to large numbers of people. In the clinical trials of the J&J vaccine, one person developed that side effect and survived.
Thomas would have preferred a more nuanced public health message, explaining the differences among the vaccines and how women ages 30 to 49 were at higher risk of complications from the J&J vaccine. Although Melkonian was a few years older than that range, her husband feels she would have heeded such a warning.
It was an absolute failure to some degree, he said. The fear of scaring everybody away from the vaccines overran the ability to educate the public correctly.
A couple of weeks after Melkonian died, Thomas still hadnt been vaccinated. He called up a friend who was helping to run the countys vaccine clinic. He knew her from years of working withDeschutes County Search and Rescue.
I cant go get a shot where Monica got her shot, he said he told her. I cant go in there.
She arranged for him to get his first vaccination shot at the search-and-rescue teams building. Several friends showed up to support him. One made breakfast. They did their best to keep his mind off the circumstances, but his mind was awash with conflicting thoughts.
My wife, my best friend, my soulmate is dead because of whats happening to me right now, he recalled thinking. I know people are going to look at me and go, Youre an idiot!
He figured people would second-guess his decision to get vaccinated after her death. Ive got friends that refuse to get a shot and theyre losing their job because they dont want to get a shot. And theyre like, But look what happened to Monica, he said. They use her as justification.
However, he said, he still believes in COVID-19 vaccines and that his choice was made before his wife died. He is now among the more than 200 million Americans vaccinated against COVID-19.
(KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.)
Link:
The one-in-a-million risk of the COVID-19 vaccines: Who thinks its going to be you? - Detroit News
- Covid-19 diagnostic based on MIT technology might be tested on patient samples soon - The MIT Tech [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- Dutch researchers first to find Covid-19 antibodies: Report - NL Times [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- Getting Viral: Why COVID-19 is Such a Threat to the 60+ Plus Population and Why the Response May Make It Worse - CounterPunch [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- U.K. Scientists Paying People $4,000 to Get Infected with Coronaviruses - Newsweek [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- Youre Likely to Get the Coronavirus - The Atlantic [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- Mountain West Scientists Contributing To The Race For A COVID-19 Vaccine - KUNC [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- China Threatens to Withhold COVID-19 Vaccine - The - The Floridian [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- Look for novel coronavirus treatments first, experts say, and vaccines are further off than you think - FiercePharma [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- COVID-19 vaccine will take at least two years to develop: health officials - The Hindu [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- 'Where's the money?' Inside GeoVax, one lab working to create a COVID-19 vaccine - wgxa.tv [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- Homeland Security News Wire: COVID-19 Virus Isolated Better Testing, Treatments, Vaccines Are Near - Los Alamos Daily Post [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- With the coronavirus, drug that once raised global hopes gets another shot - STAT [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- Farmington biotech teams with Yale to pursue COVID-19 vaccine - Hartford Business [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- Father and daughter virologists working on vaccine for COVID-19 - National Observer [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- Sanofi exploring possibility of COVID-19 vaccine that would be produced in Pa. - Bucks County Courier Times [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- EMA offers free advice to COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutic developers - European Pharmaceutical Review [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- Italy COVID-19 total tops 10000; funding grows for treatments, vaccines - CIDRAP [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- Free Tests, Free Vaccines: Remove the Wealth Barriers to Fighting COVID-19 - The Nation [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- Inovio Pharm gets $5M from Gates Foundation to further COVID-19 vaccine project - The San Diego Union-Tribune [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- On the hunt for a Covid-19 vaccine - Vantage [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- When will a coronavirus vaccine be ready? - The Guardian [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- Coronavirus vaccine: why will it take so long to create? - Los Angeles Times [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- Covid-19 vaccine in development by J&J and BIDMC. - Pharmaceutical Technology [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- First COVID-19 vaccine trial starts Monday in Seattle, government official says - KOMO News [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2020]
- Others at Kansas home tied to COVID-19 death tested negative - hays Post [Last Updated On: March 17th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 17th, 2020]
- Commentary: Is the UK's herd immunity strategy to combat COVID-19 worth pursuing? - CNA [Last Updated On: March 17th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 17th, 2020]
- 5 Promising Covid-19 Vaccines and Drugs That Could End Coronavirus Pandemic - Observer [Last Updated On: March 17th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 17th, 2020]
- First human trial of COVID-19 vaccine gets under way in the US - EWN [Last Updated On: March 17th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 17th, 2020]
- Government official: First dose to be delivered Monday in clinical trial for potential COVID-19 vaccine - Associated Press [Last Updated On: March 17th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 17th, 2020]
- First stage of COVID-19 vaccine testing gets under way - The Mercury News [Last Updated On: March 17th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 17th, 2020]
- The Race Is On To Find A Vaccine For COVID-19 - WCCO | CBS Minnesota [Last Updated On: March 17th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 17th, 2020]
- 10 Positive Updates on the COVID-19 Outbreaks From Around the World - Good News Network [Last Updated On: March 17th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 17th, 2020]
- Authorities warn of scam callers seeking sensitive information to reserve a vaccine for COVID-19 - FOX 13 Tampa Bay [Last Updated On: March 17th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 17th, 2020]
- COVID-19 Vaccine Still on Phase 1 and Might Take 18 Months From Now to Create Says Global Health Official - Tech Times [Last Updated On: March 17th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 17th, 2020]
- Army command continues work on COVID-19 vaccine, treatment | Hospital near Fort Detrick to setup drive-through testing site - WUSA9.com [Last Updated On: March 17th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 17th, 2020]
- Australian researchers have made an important discovery in the race to find a COVID-19 vaccine - SBS News [Last Updated On: March 17th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 17th, 2020]
- Regeneron aims to have coronavirus antibody treatment ready for human testing by early summer - CNBC [Last Updated On: March 17th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 17th, 2020]
- Covid-19 outbreak: the key to quicker vaccine development - Pharmaceutical Technology [Last Updated On: March 17th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 17th, 2020]
- COVID-19 Vaccine Test Begins With U.S. Volunteer | Time [Last Updated On: March 17th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 17th, 2020]
- The FDA Regulatory Landscape for Covid-19 Treatments and Vaccines - JD Supra [Last Updated On: March 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 18th, 2020]
- Montgomery Co. life science companies work together on COVID-19 vaccine - WDVM 25 [Last Updated On: March 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 18th, 2020]
- Meet the volunteers testing the new experimental COVID-19 vaccine - CTV News [Last Updated On: March 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 18th, 2020]
- The U.S. Should Make COVID-19 Testing, Prevention And Care Free To All - WBUR [Last Updated On: March 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 18th, 2020]
- Biotech That Doubled on Covid-19 Frenzy Readies New Flu Vaccine - Bloomberg [Last Updated On: March 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 18th, 2020]
- Jones sponsors bill for insurance plans to cover COVID-19 vaccines when they're available - alreporter.com [Last Updated On: March 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 18th, 2020]
- Seattle volunteers receive world's first experimental COVID-19 vaccine - KOMO News [Last Updated On: March 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 18th, 2020]
- What scientists are working on to find a cure for coronavirus COVID-19 - ABC News [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2020]
- This study shows how difficult it will be to find Covid-19 vaccine volunteers - Ladders [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2020]
- Differences between COVID-19 and flu? We have no immunity or vaccine for the new virus, local expert says - WFTV Orlando [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2020]
- GeekWire Podcast: Bill Gates on COVID-19, gig workers in peril, and more on the coronavirus crisis - GeekWire [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2020]
- Coronavirus vaccine: Expert warns that a usable Covid-19 vaccination won't be available for at least a year - inews [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2020]
- COVID-19 Is Deadlier Than The Flu. How Else Do They Differ? : Goats and Soda - NPR [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2020]
- Is This 'Good News' List About the COVID-19 Pandemic Accurate? - Snopes.com [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2020]
- WHO expert: Finding and distributing COVID-19 vaccine in 18 months would be 'historic' - EURACTIV [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2020]
- COVID-19: 5 reasons to be cautiously hopeful - Medical News Today [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2020]
- Scammers are trying to trick people into reserving a COVID-19 vaccine over the phone - The Verge [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2020]
- Coronavirus: How scientists are racing to find a Covid-19 vaccine - ITV News [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2020]
- COVID-19 Vaccines Are Coming, but Theyre Not What You Think - The Atlantic [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2020]
- First patients injected with potential COVID-19 vaccine in ... [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2020]
- COVID-19 vaccine - Wikipedia [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2020]
- Researchers working to fast-track a COVID-19 vaccine - FOX 9 [Last Updated On: March 23rd, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 23rd, 2020]
- Projects awarded 10.5m to boost Covid-19 vaccine research - National Health Executive [Last Updated On: March 23rd, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 23rd, 2020]
- CureVac denies reports that Trump admin sought to acquire Covid-19 vaccine rights - MedCity News [Last Updated On: March 23rd, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 23rd, 2020]
- Cork workers to be involved in race to find vaccine for Covid-19 - Echo Live [Last Updated On: March 23rd, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 23rd, 2020]
- COVID-19 Drugs And Vaccines Showing Promise - WVXU [Last Updated On: March 23rd, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 23rd, 2020]
- Moderna could make experimental COVID-19 vaccine available to healthcare workers by fall - TechCrunch [Last Updated On: March 23rd, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 23rd, 2020]
- Beware of Fraudulent Coronavirus Tests, Vaccines and Treatments - WBIW.com [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2020]
- Singapore scientists plan to start testing COVID-19 vaccine this year: Gan Kim Yong - CNA [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2020]
- Meet the scientists contributing to race for COVID-19 vaccine - Study International News [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2020]
- The Covid-19 Vaccine: How Much Will It Cost & Who Will Have Access? - KALW [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2020]
- Scientists race to find COVID-19 vaccine, as global cases of infection climb - Yahoo Finance [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2020]
- Dynavax and Clover Biopharmaceuticals Announce Research Collaboration to Evaluate Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccine Candidate with CpG 1018 Adjuvant -... [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2020]
- Soligenix Inc. Heat-Stabilization Platform Evaluating Use With COVID-19 Vaccine; Zacks Small-Cap Research Increases Valuation To $12.00 Per Share -... [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2020]
- Inovio Pharmaceuticals Gets Help From Ology Bioservices and the Defense Department with Its COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate - The Motley Fool [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2020]
- New coronavirus research suggests vaccines developed to treat it could be long-lasting - TechCrunch [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2020]
- Hoth Surges on Collaboration With Voltron for COVID-19 Vaccine - Yahoo Finance [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2020]
- UVM Researcher Offers Insights on Vaccines and COVID-19 - Seven Days [Last Updated On: March 27th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 27th, 2020]
- 20 Indian institutes working to find Covid-19 vaccine, IITs focused on portable ventilators - ThePrint [Last Updated On: March 27th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 27th, 2020]
- Researchers in Pittsburgh, Paris and Vienna Win Grant for COVID-19 Vaccine - UPJ Athletics [Last Updated On: March 27th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 27th, 2020]
- Research Team in Race to Develop COVID-19 Vaccine and Treatments - USC Viterbi School of Engineering [Last Updated On: March 27th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 27th, 2020]