The family of a teenager whose death has been linked to the COVID-19 vaccine don't want it used to push an anti-vaccine agenda, Dr Ashley Bloomfield says.
On Monday, the Ministry of Health revealed a third death had been linked to the Pfizer vaccine. It came after the COVID-19 Vaccine Independent Safety Monitoring Board alerted the Ministry of the death.
Speaking to media on Tuesday the Director-General of Health said the person who died was a teenager.
"This was a young person, a teenager and it's very sad that this young person has died," Bloomfield said.
Bloomfield said the Independent Safety Monitoring Board put a lot of thought into its ruling that the death was linked to the vaccine.
"The consensus was that it's most likely this was vaccine-related, we will never know and there is still some doubt. One thing I do want to say is the family was very clear that they didn't want this death, this unfortunate and very sad death, to in any way put people off from being vaccinated or to be used by groups to try and undermine vaccination efforts in New Zealand," he said.
Bloomfield said the teenager's death was "quite sudden" and they didn't experience any symptoms beforehand.
The Director-General of Health also responded to a 35-year-old man who detailed his experience with adverse reactions to the vaccine.
Hayden Harvey, a builder from Wellington, got his first Pfizer dose in September but has since been rushed to hospital nine times with pericarditis. Harvey, who is pro-vaccine, raised concerns about his treatment by the healthcare system on The Project on Monday.
He said healthcare professionals didn't believe him when he said he was vaccine injured despite pericarditis being listed as a rare side effect of the vaccine.
Bloomfield said Harvey's experience is unfortunate. He said healthcare professionals have been given detailed information about the vaccine's possible side effects.
"From the very first time we linked a myocarditis death to the vaccine we put out quite comprehensive information to our health professionals around the country and all our vaccinators.
"We have very good information that is widespread through the system and I think this man had a very unfortunate experience.
"His symptoms were not diagnosed and the possible link to the vaccine wasn't diagnosed. It's quite clear now there is a potential link to that and I hope his experience is much better now."
The Pfizer vaccine is safe and effective. Most people will only experience mild to no side effects however serious side effects are very rare but possible. More than 4 million people are fully vaccinated in New Zealand.
