Anne VanGeest, 35, died April 19 at Mercy Health Saint Mary’s in Grand Rapids.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the news of Anne’s passing as the result of complications after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine,” her family said in a statement released through a Grand Rapids public relations firm.
The statement from a representative of VanGeest’s family stopped short of saying she died from the J&J vaccine, instead saying she died “as the result of complications after (emphasis added) receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.”
The statement went on to describe VanGeest as a “loving mother, wife, sister and daughter.”
“Folks will have an opportunity to take a very close look and find out if this was simply coincidence or if there s an item that we need to be concerned about,” Derusha said.
Even a temporary halt of the one-dose J & J vaccine will complicate some of the state’s distribution efforts.
Because it’s the only one of the three FDA authorized vaccines that is a single-dose, it was used strategically for hard-to-reach populations, such as rural or island residents, home-bound seniors, or those who public health officials need to get vaccinated quickly, such as college students who only recently became eligible for vaccination but will soon leave campus as the school year ends.
Dr. Howard Markel
Credit Writers Representatives / writersreps.com
Dr. Howard Markel from the University of Michigan sees he now believes the COVID-19 pandemic is very different from the pandemic of 1918 now that we re seeing a downward trend in cases and deaths from the virus. He blames the lack of vaccines in Washtenaw County and elsewhere around the state and around the country on the last presidential administration, which he says did not buy enough vaccines or plan ahead for what would be necessary to address the problem. Dr. Markel found it interesting but wasn t sure why there are no confirmed cases of influenza in the community at a time where it typically peaks. He said, The most predictable thing about a pandemic is their unpredictability.
Harvard Medical School Professor Andrew Budson says that s not because you get stuffed up like you would with a cold or the flu. Instead: Most people think the taste and smell are related to the virus directly affecting those nerves that go into the brain. That could certainly be true,” Budson said. “And it goes to show that the virus could be attacking the brain directly.
He s worried an attack on the brain could lead to long-term memory problems. Adding that Coronavirus also reduces blood oxygen levels which can cause brain damage. In addition, COVID-19 increases the chances of older people having mini-strokes which temporally cuts off blood flow to your brain. Budson thinks that might explain why some people who already recovered from coronavirus still deal with brain fog.
5 things the Michigan Legislature failed to address in 2020
Updated Dec 23, 2020;
Posted Dec 23, 2020
Protesters congregate at the Capitol Building during a protest against emergency business shutdown orders amid the coronavirus pandemic in Lansing on Thursday, April 30, 2020. Neil Blake | MLive.com
Facebook Share
LANSING, MI - The legislative agendas of Lee Chatfield and Mike Shirkey looked very different in 2020 than they did in 2019.
With COVID-19 dominating every aspect of life in 2020, the Republican leaders in the Michigan Legislature shifted focus to address the pandemic. While they fulfilled promises such as boosting education funding, lowering auto insurance costs and passing criminal justice reforms, one major shortcoming was obvious: No plan to mitigate disease spread made it out of either chamber.