The death of a young New Zealand plumber due to an adverse reaction to a Covid-19 vaccine should have been prevented by informing him of the risks before the jab, a coroner has found.
Rory Nairn, 26, died of an inflamed heart – myocarditis – 12 days after receiving his first dose of the Comirnaty (Pfizer) vaccine at a New Zealand pharmacy in 2021.
Coroner Sue Johnson found the condition is a rare but recognized side effect that should have been reported to Mr Nairn before he received the jab.
A report released on Monday by Health and Disability Commissioner Morag McDowell found the pharmacist had not told the young man about the serious condition or what symptoms to look out for.
Mr Nairn, unaware of the risk and symptoms, thought his chest pain came from the stress of selling his house and getting married, said his fiancée Ashleigh Wilson.
“He was 26 years old and had no pre-existing medical conditions. He played rugby, went diving and hunting at weekends, worked hard as a plumber and had his whole life ahead of him, Ms Wilson said on social media.
Despite the fatal mistake of not warning Mr Nairn of the dangers, the pharmacy will not face sanctions for their role in his death, with Ms McDowell citing the ‘unprecedented’ circumstances that existed during the Covid pandemic.
A sporting tradie who died of myocarditis linked to the Pfizer vaccine, Rory Nairn (pictured), was not told about the dangerous side effect by the pharmacist who jabbed him
“Ms. McDowell concluded that, in light of significant mitigating factors, it would be disproportionately burdensome to find the pharmacy in violation of the Code, and that an educational approach was more appropriate,” the report said.
The commissioner also noted that the vaccine was relatively new at the time and that “information on its use, risks and side effects was still available.”
She also found that none of the official sources explicitly told healthcare providers to tell those who received a vaccine about myocarditis.
The 26-year-old had no idea of the condition and attributed chest pain to the stress of selling and buying a house and planning a wedding to fiancé Ashleigh Wilson (pictured)
The NZ Health and Disability Commissioner said they would not penalize the pharmacy due to ‘unprecedented’ circumstances during the pandemic (stock image)
Despite ‘significant mitigating factors’, Ms McDowell was still critical of the pharmacy’s practices.
“Given the severity of the risk of myocarditis and the amount of information, one would reasonably expect that communications with healthcare providers would highlight or highlight the risk in some way,” she said.
The Australian Department of Health says the risk of myocarditis is highest in people aged 16 to 30, and higher in men than women.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) says about one to two in 100,000 Australians who receive the Pfizer vaccine will develop the condition.
The TGA’s latest vaccine safety report from November 2023 found more than 130,000 side effects from more than 68 million Covid vaccines.