MI Woman's Death Related To J&J Vaccine Complications: Family

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Family members of a Michigan woman believe her death is related to complications after she received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, according to news reports.

Annie VanGeest was 35 when she died on April 19 at Mercy Health Saint Mary's hospital in Grand Rapids. Her family believes the Ionia-area mother and wife died from complications after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, according to WOOD-TV 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,” VanGeest's family said in a recent statement to WOOD-TV.

Patch has reached out to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but authorities were not immediately available.

Administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was paused in the United States earlier this month after six people who had been given the vaccine later suffered from blood clots.

The rare blood clots later were identified in 15 people, but federal health officials adopted a committee's recommendation that the pause on the Johnson & Johnson single-dose coronavirus vaccine be lifted, saying the benefits of the vaccine outweighed any inherent risks it presented.

Read More: MI Moves Forward With Administration Of Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

All the cases were in women and two of the cases were in women older than 50 while the rest were in women between the ages of 18-48.

VanGeest's family told WOOD that she received the vaccine on April 8 and later developed a headache.

While the CDC reportedly confirmed to VanGeest's family that her death was reported through its Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, no confirmation was given that authorities were investigating her death to see if it was related to the vaccine, according to WOOD.

According to WOOD, VanGeest's death certificate lists the manner of her death as "natural," with the cause being “acute subarachnoid hemorrhage non-traumatic,” or bleeding between the brain and the thin tissue surrounding it.

A GoFundMe for VanGeest's family had raised more than $24,000 as of Monday. Carri Shipaila, who started the page, described VanGeest as "a wonderful mom to her four beautiful children.."

"She threw herself into mothering them whole-heartedly, whether she had girl time by sharing Starbuck frappuccinos with her eldest daughter, snuggling with her youngest son and their dogs, or proudly displaying the new business cards for her husband of 13 years, Adam 'Goose' VanGeest," the page reads.

GoFundMe is a Patch promotional partner.