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CDC Investigating Michigan Woman's Death After Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine

IONIA COUNTY, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - The Center for Disease Control is investigating after a woman from Michigan died from complications after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

Annie VanGeest, 35 of Ionia County received the vaccine on April 8. This was five days before the CDC and the United States Food and Drug Administration temporarily paused the vaccine.

According to her family, she began to have headaches a week after receiving the vaccine and died on April 19 due to bleeding in the brain.

VanGeest's doctor filed a Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System report to the CDC.

VAERS is a vaccine safety system managed by CDC and the FDA.

"VAERS accepts reports of possible side effects (also called "adverse events") following vaccination. The system is not designed to determine whether a reported adverse event was caused by the vaccine, but serves as an early warning system and helps CDC and FDA identify areas for further study. When VAERS receives reports of serious illness or death after vaccination, VAERS staff contact the hospital where the patient was treated to obtain the associated medical records to better understand the adverse event," the CDC stated in an email.

Johnson & Johnson said in a statement they "carefully review each report as part of an established practice."

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