A 43-year-old mother of three in England tragically died with blood clots after having an early Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccination, her heartbroken partner has said
Kenneth Edwards said he believes Tanya Smith would still be alive if she hadn't had the jab. He decided to speak out after hearing about the death in similar circumstances of BBC Newcastle radio presenter Lisa Shaw.
Tanya - described as an "amazing" and "selfless" partner, mum and childminder - felt "pretty rough" for a couple of days after he vaccination, and then woke one morning with painful stomach cramps.
She was taken to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth and was found to have suffered multiple blood clots. Tragically, she then had a heart attack and a cardiac arrest – and her condition got "progressively worse", before she died in hospital on April 3.
Mr Edwards told Plymouth Live Tanya was "healthy and young-ish" - so he believes she would still be alive if she hadn't have had the Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine. However, a full investigation and inquest into her death has not yet taken place.
Her death has been reported to the coroner, but no inquest has been opened and the cause of death is awaited.
Tanya was invited to have her vaccination early because she was a key worker, working for her local council as a childminder. She was also a carer for her daughter who has disabilities.
Mr Edwards said "She was just amazing, selfless. She was a childminder – a really good childminder for 19 years.
"She leaves three children behind, two grown up children and a 12-year-old little girl with disabilities.
"She was the only woman, apart from my mum, who really looked after me. She loved her family, she was really family-orientated and she'd go above and beyond.
"We're all pretty lost without her, I've never experienced anything like this."
"I know it's a small percent [of people that have blood clots after the vaccine] but my partner was healthy. Within four days she had passed away."
"She obviously had a reaction from the jab," he claimed. "She'd never suffered from blood clots. She was healthy. She was healthy before she had that jab."
"I would not stop anyone getting the jab, but people need to know [what happened] to make their own decision."
The death is being thoroughly investigated by University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, which manages Derriford Hospital, and will be examined at an inquest later this year, Plymouth Live udnerstands.
NHS England declined to comment on the matter, passing enquiries over to the MHRA (the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, part of the Department of Health and Social Care) - the agency that authorised the vaccine for use.
A spokesperson for the MHRA said: "We are saddened to hear about the death of Tania Smith and our thoughts are with the family.
"As with any serious suspected adverse reaction, reports with a fatal outcome are fully evaluated by the MHRA, including an assessment of post-mortem details if available.
"Our detailed and rigorous review into reports of blood clots occurring together with thrombocytopenia is ongoing.”
NHS Devon said that Tanya received the vaccine recommended for her age group.
Guidance on the UK Government website states: "Older adults (including health and social care workers aged 40 years or older, care home residents and adults of any age with certain medical conditions are at high risk of the complications of Covid-19.
"The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the JCVI advises that you should still receive any of the available Covid-19 vaccines.
"The benefits of vaccination in protecting you against the serious consequences of Covid-19 outweigh any risk of this extremely rare condition.
"In the current situation the JCVI has advised that it is preferable for people in [the age 30 to 39 age group] to have a vaccine other than AZ."
Back in April, a trial using AstraZeneca jab in children and teens was paused after Regulators at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) confirmed that they are investigating a potential association between the jab and a rare form of blood clots.
However, medical experts maintain that the benefits of the jab outweigh the small risks.
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