The Medical Officer of Health for Windsor-Essex has confirmed a resident from an area retirement home has passed away after receiving the Moderna vaccine.
Dr. Wajid Ahmed says multiple agencies including public health, the retirement home, the Coroner's Office and the province have launched an investigation.
He says the investigation is not directly tied to the vaccine only.
"There are issues that are beyond the vaccine in many cases so I don't want people to think that all of this investigation is linked only because of the vaccine," says Dr. Ahmed. "I just want to be very clear, this is just not necessarily we're concerned about the vaccine. There are other factors, health history, a number of factors that need to be taken into consideration."
Dr. Ahmed says anytime a vaccine adverse event happens, it is reported to the health unit.
"Right now it's being investigated at this time," says Dr. Ahmed. "Due to the personal and confidential clinical nature of all of those details, I can't share the outcome of what this investigation looks like but we are aware of a death in the retirement home."
He says vaccine safety is a critical issue.
"There are a number of things that are happening right now including an investigation to figure out the chain of events, the possibility of what led to the death and all of those details when it becomes available and we are able to share, we will definitely share that information, I don't have a timeline," he says.
Dr. Ahmed does not believe the investigation will compromise the public's confidence in the vaccine.
He says a number of things need to be considered when discussing vaccine adverse events following immunization.