Melton man (96) died after ‘extremely rare allergic reaction’ to Covid jab, inquest finds

Peter Jackson had walked from his Cambridge Avenue home, where he lived with his son John, to the vaccination centre at Melton Sports Village on December 21, 2020, for his appointment, receiving the vaccine at 4.30pm.

He had declined a lift from his son preferring to walk because the centre was only a short distance away.

After the injection he set off walking back home but after only a few yards he collapsed in the car park outside at 5.05pm.

Staff from the centre went to his aid and called 999.

Attempts were made to resuscitate him in the car park and on the way to Glenfield hospital in Leicester but he was declared dead on arrival.

Mr Jackson, who worked at Petfoods for 23 years, led a full and active life up until he died. He still held a driving licence and tended his own garden.

After his wife, Joan, died he travelled on his own to Australia at the age of 89 to visit his older brother Harry in New South Wales.

He made a further five trips to Australia on his own after he turned 90, the last being in 2019.

Acknowledging that the circumstances of Mr Jackson’s death must have been incredibly upsetting for his family, the Coroner, Catherine Mason, said on balance the benefits of having the vaccine outweighed the risks.

She said an adverse reaction to the vaccine was extremely rare and this was the only inquest she had held involving the Pfizer vaccine.

According to the Coroner there had been no reason for Mr Jackson not to have had the vaccination when he did as there were no contra-indications.

And it would have been the same if he was having the vaccine at the present time, she added.

In a statement, Pfizer said: “Anaphylaxis is a rare side effect associated with virtually all injectable vaccines.

“Appropriate warnings were at all times included in the product information available to healthcare professionals and patients in relation to the vaccine.

“The content of these warnings changed over time consistent with developing knowledge regarding the vaccine.“

The statement said that following the initial authorisation of the vaccine on December 2, 2020, over 2.5 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered worldwide and all safety information associated with such usage has been carefully monitored.

Monitoring of safety data associated with use of the vaccine has resulted in estimates of 4.7-11.1 cases of anaphylaxis per million doses administered.

A post mortem found the cause of death was due to an anaphylactic reaction and given the timing of events, on a balance of probabilities, this was due to the vaccine.

Also contributing to Mr Jackson’s death were heart disease and old age.

The Coroner concluded that death was due to an adverse reaction to an elective Covid 19 vaccination.