DHHS: Fully vaccinated elderly Nebraskan died after hospitalized with COVID-19

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - An elderly woman fully vaccinated against COVID-19 died after she was hospitalized with the virus, the state health department said Wednesday.

“A woman in her 80s with underlying medical conditions developed COVID-19 and was hospitalized more than 14 days after completing a vaccination series with the Pfizer vaccine,” the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said in a release.

The woman was a resident in the Two Rivers Public Health District, according to the release.

To date, 2,244 people have died from COVID-19 in Nebraska. The Two Rivers woman is the state’s first confirmed post-vaccination COVID-19 death.

“Vaccine breakthrough cases occur in only a small percentage of vaccinated persons,” DHHS said.

Earlier this year, the CDC reviewed a death of a Nebraska man in his 40s who died less than two weeks after receiving his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccination. That death was investigated for potential vaccine causation but was ruled “coincidental” by the CDC in March.

The CDC has also investigated a Nebraska woman’s post-vaccination hospitalization as it probed potential complications from the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

Copyright 2021 WOWT. All rights reserved.