The next morning, after Jimmy left and she’d dropped Charlie at her mother’s, Georgia searched online for adverse reactions to the vaccines. She came up with half a dozen stories that reported fever, nausea, and diarrhea among a few seniors after the injection. But there was nothing in depth in the pieces. Then she found an article from Norway reporting that almost two dozen people had died after the vaccine was administered. The headline conceded they were all frail, elderly people in nursing homes and had serious underlying health conditions. Some were terminally ill. The Norwegian Medical Authority dismissed any connection between the Covid vaccine and their deaths, claiming common adverse reactions from any mRNA vaccine probably contributed to the fatalities. Younger, fitter patients, they said, would and did tolerate the vaccine without any problems.
Which was it? Very few deaths, or a lot more than anyone expected? She kept reading. Germany, too, had seen ten deaths, and was “investigating.” The UK wouldn’t say if anyone had died but promised to report in the future. Georgia got up and poured more coffee. Something was off. If the Covid vaccine was more lethal than experts had predicted, the media seemed to be blowing off its danger, following the official line and attributing the deaths to other factors.
She went back to her laptop and homed in on US deaths from the vaccine. When she saw the number, she gasped. Between December and March, nearly three thousand people had died after receiving the vaccine! Each case was supposedly reported to the Food and Drug Administration, and the CDC was supposed to follow up. The article stressed that no one had detected any pattern that would indicate a safety problem. Apparently, anaphylaxis, a severe allergy marked by a sudden inability to breathe, a rash, and a weak pulse, was the most common reaction. And that could occur after any vaccination, the reports made sure to say. Typically, anaphylaxis was treated with epinephrine.
Still. Three thousand dead? From medicine that was supposed to protect people’s health?
She got up and started to pace. Maybe she didn’t have a case after all. Maybe Susan’s aunt was severely allergic to something in the vaccine, and by the time they realized what was going on, it was too late for an EpiPen. Her aunt clearly wasn’t alone. Maybe the media wasn’t jumping all over the story of three dead seniors because it wasn’t uncommon, new, or compelling. So what if a few people died? Compared to millions who died in the heat of the pandemic, a couple thousand deaths were peanuts. Local officials would probably agree. Her hope that this would turn into a significant case dimmed.
She closed the tabs on her laptop, stood up, and stretched. It was time to corral Richard Blackstone, the doctor who’d supervised the vaccinations at the church.