A man whose family believed he died from a COVID-19 vaccine actually died from heart disease, an autopsy has revealed.
Tim Zook, 60, from Orange, California, passed away on January 9, four days after he received the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
At the time, his wife, Rochelle, implied to the Orange County Register that her husband’s death had something to do with the vaccine.
However, an autopsy report from the Orange County Coroner released on Wednesday confirmed that Zook, an X-ray technician, died from cardiovascular disease that led to heart failure.
Tim Zook’s (left) death was attributed to heart disease by an Orange County coroner. His wife, Rochelle (right) implied the vaccine he received days earlier was the cause of his death
Tim Zook, 60, excitedly posted about receiving the second does of his Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on January 5. He died four days later
Zook’s official cause of death was listed as ‘hypertensive and athersclerotic heart disease with severe cardiomegaly and heart failure,’ reported the OC Register.
This means he had a buildup of plaque in his coronary arteries and heart conditions caused by high blood pressure.
What’s more, Zook’s heart was described as dilate, very enlarged and thicker than normal.
The report does mention COVID-19 vaccines as playing a role in his death.
When he got his second shot on January 5, Zook posted photos of a band-aid on his arm and a picture of his vaccination record card.
‘Never been so excited to get a shot before. I am now fully vaccinated after receiving my 2nd Pfizer dose,’ he wrote on his Facebook page.
Rochelle said that her husband ‘believed in vaccines’ and was ‘sure he would take that vaccine again, and he’d want the public to take it,’ according to the OC Register.
His condition allegedly started spiraling the day after he received the vaccine, according to his wife.
‘When someone gets symptoms 2.5 hours after a vaccine, that’s a reaction,’ she told the newspaper.
‘What else could have happened? We would like the public to know what happened to Tim, so he didn’t die in vain.
‘Severe reactions are rare. In reality, COVID is a much more deadly force than reactions from the potential vaccine itself.’
She continued: ‘The message is, be safe, take the vaccine – but the officials need to do more research.
‘We need to know the cause. The vaccines need to be as safe as possible. Every life matters.’
Rochelle also said she did not want to point the blame for her husband’s death at Pfizer or another pharmaceutical company.
‘Our immediate thoughts are with the bereaved family,’ Pfizer told Fox News in January.
‘We closely monitor all such events and collect relevant information to share with global regulatory authorities. Based on ongoing safety reviews performed by Pfizer, BioNTech and health authorities, BNT162b2 retains a positive benefit-risk profile for the prevention of COVID-19 infections.
‘Serious adverse events, including deaths that are unrelated to the vaccine, are unfortunately likely to occur at a similar rate as they would in the general population.’
Zook was an X-ray technician who worked at South Coast Global Medical Center in Santa Ana, California.
His death was placed under investigation by the Orange County Coroner’s office to determine the real cause of death.
The coroner’s office determined that heart disease was the true cause of death for Zook.
The Pfizer vaccine was the first to receive emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in mid-December.
It is the most commonly used vaccine in the United States so far, having been administered more than 186 million times.
The vaccine has been deemed safe an effective by the FDA and health experts across the world, though there have a been a few negative side effects tied to it.
Myocarditis, heart inflammation, has been found in a small percentage of young males who received the vaccine.
In total, 56 percent of Americans have received at least one shot of any COVID-19 vaccine, and 48 percent of people are fully vaccinated.
