Initial autopsy results showed the previously healthy boy suffered from myocarditis, an inflammatory heart condition CDC officials have acknowledged is “likely” linked to mRNA COVID vaccines.
A 13-year-old Michigan boy died June 16, three days after he received his second dose of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine.
Preliminary autopsy results indicated that following his vaccination, Jacob Clynick’s heart became enlarged and was surrounded by fluid — symptoms similar to those documented in other teen boys who experienced myocarditis following COVID vaccination.
On June 20, Clynick’s aunt, Tami Burages, posted a tweet with a photo of her nephew’s vaccination card and this statement, though she has since removed this tweet:
“A week ago today my brother’s 13-year-old son had his 2nd covid shot. Less than 3 days later he died. The initial autopsy results (done Friday) were that his heart was enlarged and there was some fluid surrounding it. He had no known health problems. Was on no medications.”
Burages also tweeted, which she also removed:
“Our family is devastated. I struggled with putting this out on Twitter. I am pro-vaccine. We vaccinated my own 14-year-old son as soon as it was available. I know it is *mostly safe*.
“The @CDCgov needs to investigate this. There have been other cases of myocarditis in young men receiving their 2nd @pfizer shot. Have others died from it in the United States or is my nephew the first?
“Should any innocent child be a sacrificial lamb in this endeavor? There are moral, ethical and health questions that need to be answered. If Jacob had not received the 2nd shot, we believe he would be alive today.”
The teen’s death was reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is under investigation by federal health regulators to determine if there is a correlation between the death and vaccination — according to the Saginaw County Health Department — which received notice from the Saginaw Medical Examiner’s office of the boy’s death.
“Loss of life in an adolescent for any reason is heartbreaking,” the health department said in a statement. “Health officer Chris Harrington, MPH, and medical director Delicia Pruitt, MD, are mothers of children near the boy’s age, so it hits close to home for them.”
As of Wednesday, the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) did not include an entry for a Michigan teen who died in June. According to various reports, there is a two-month data lag between reports made to VAERS and those published to the public.