The inquest into the death of a Dunedin man who died after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine has heard vaccinators were warned about the risk of serious side effects such as myocarditis months before he died.
Rory Nairn, 26, died at home on November 17 after receiving his first dose of the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine.
An autopsy found he died of vaccine-related myocarditis, after experiencing symptoms over nearly a fortnight.
The inquest into a Dunedin man's death after he got the Covid-19 vaccine has heard vaccinators were warned about serious side effects such as myocarditis. (Source: 1News)
In August 2021, the Ministry of Health released a letter to clinicians, reminding them to be aware of myocarditis and pericarditis symptoms, after a woman died following her Covid-19 Pfizer vaccination.
The Covid-19 Vaccine Independent Safety Monitoring Board considered that the woman’s death was due to myocarditis, which is known to be a rare side effect of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.
Christine Nolan, Ministry of Health group manager national contracts, quality and workforce, gave evidence in the second day of the inquest.
Nolan confirmed that by the time Nairn had his vaccination, it was required that questions about myocarditis and pericarditis be part of the vaccination screening process.
Ben Taylor, the lawyer representing the pharmacist who vaccinated Nairn as well as the pharmacy they work at, both who are subject to name suppression, asked Nolan about the course pharmacists completed in May 2021 to become Covid-19 vaccinators.
“Did the course discuss pre and post-vaccination advice for consumers?”
Nolan said it would have “as it was necessary to have the informed consent discussion”.
Taylor also asked Nolan if vaccinators would have been told to inform the consumer of the risks and benefits of the vaccine.
To which Nolan replied: “the rare and serious also need to be explained because that is something that may not happen very often, but the rare nature is what needs to be explained to the consumer as well because they need to take action if it occurs.”
In his questioning, Taylor referred to the guidelines in the Ministry of Health immunisation handbook.
The Ministry of Health website states The Immunisation Handbook 2020 provides clinical guidelines for health professionals on the safest and most effective use of vaccines in their practice. These guidelines are based on the best scientific evidence available at the time of publication, from published and unpublished literature.
It was published online in September 2020 and was last updated on May 19 2022.
Taylor said the wording in these guidelines stated expected or probable side effects needed to be discussed with patients.
Nolan stated myocarditis would be raised “because of the risk” and it should have formed part of the informed consent discussion.
“It was important to ask if the person had been exposed to or had diagnosis of myocarditis or pericarditis because that would be an indication that they should avoid Pfizer,” said Nolan.
Taylor asked if a serious risk like myocarditis that was worrying the ministry would make it “important to tell providers that it needs to be discussed as part of the informed consent process?”
To which Nolan replied: “I think that the communication that came through said that it was a rare and serious risk to be highlighted.”
READ MORE: Inquest into man who died after getting Covid jab not a trial – Coroner
A staff member at the pharmacy Nairn was vaccinated at, who has name suppression, gave evidence in court on Tuesday.
They were critical of the Ministry of Health’s communication around the risks of myocarditis.
“For something that is so important, I feel like the Ministry of Health or IMAC (the Immunisation Advisory Centre) should probably not put it in a bullet point that is so small,” they said.
When asked why rare side effects were not gone through with Nairn, the staff member explained that with all medications, there are so many potential side effects.
“You can't possibly list all of them, so if you come in for blood pressure medication you can't list all of them, you just can't.”
“So, by covering the common ones they are less serious but anything more serious than that we urge them to go and see a doctor,” they said.
They said it would have made life a lot easier to have one source of information on the vaccine rather than the “millions of emails” that the pharmacy received throughout the pandemic.
The pharmacist who vaccinated Nairn broke down while giving evidence on Tuesday.
They said they went through the common side effects of the vaccine - but did not specifically discuss myocarditis or chest pain as it’s an extremely rare side effect.
The pharmacist said they weren’t advised by their manager to discuss symptoms of myocarditis with patients.
Each customer is invited to take an information sheet that lists symptoms of vaccine side effects but he didn’t take this.
“As soon as we were notified [of Mr Nairn’s death] all practices changed, it’s just unfortunate it took that Mr Nairn to pass away for that to happen, but our practice changed and we were informing everyone that you must go to the doctor and the hospital as soon as anything happens regardless if you had a vaccine or not,” they said.
Beatrix Woodhouse, the lawyer representing Nairn’s fiancé Ashleigh Wilson, stopped questioning after the vaccinator started crying, noting Wilson didn’t want her to be upset.
Myocarditis and pericarditis are rare side effects involving the heart. The rate in New Zealand is reported to be around three per 100,000 vaccinations or 0.003%, and can be treated if picked up early.
“One effects the lining around the outside of your heart - that's the pericarditis. The other effects the muscles of your heart which is the myocarditis, each of them has different investigations we can do to determine if that’s what’s going on," Royal NZ College of GPs president Dr Samantha Murton told 1News.
According to the Heart Foundation, most cases are mild and do not require treatment. The risk of myocarditis is significantly higher in those who contract Covid-19 while unvaccinated.
The inquest is expected to conclude next week.
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