A “precious and beloved” son died after he was wrongly given the AstraZeneca Covid jab because of a blunder almost 20 years ago that mistakenly classified him as morbidly obese.
Alex Reid, who was 28, died from a rare blood clot caused by the vaccine.
But an inquest heard he would never have received the vaccine but for an error in his medical records.
His distraught parents said their “happy, healthy, precious and beloved” son’s death was “unacceptable, immoral and fundamentally wrong”, and accused AstraZeneca and the Government of ignoring “the small number” of people who died or were seriously affected as a result of the blood clots in order to quickly roll out the vaccine during the pandemic.
Reid, an operations controller from Leeds, was called in early to have a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, because the local GP practice had mistakenly recorded him as having a body mass index of 68.
The recording error was made when Alex was 11, in 2004. His height was correctly recorded as 1.45 metres (4ft 9in), but his weight had been wrongly recorded as 22 stone (145kg).
Advisers recommended alternative to AstraZeneca
He received his first dose on March 21. By the time he was due his follow-up dose on May 18 2021, the Government’s vaccine advisers had recommended - more than a month earlier - that recipients under 30 receive alternatives to AstraZeneca because of the extremely rare risk of blood clots.
But in Reid’s case, because he had AstraZeneca as his first jab, he was given a follow-up dose of the same vaccine.
He died in Leeds General Infirmary on June 29 2021, six weeks later.
At an inquest last week, Oliver Longstaff, the coroner for West Yorkshire, said that “on the balance of probabilities, had he not received the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccination, Alex would not have died when he did”.
The coroner recorded the cause of death as vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), a new condition linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine that is suspected of causing more than 80 deaths in the UK and hundreds more serious disabilities.
Victims and their families are planning to sue AstraZeneca in a series of legal claims which could be worth £80 million.
Reid’s parents have now told The Telegraph of their two-year battle to have their son’s death fully investigated. Their only other child had died of a cardiac arrest when still a teenager.
‘Our son was our whole world’
“This dreadful error has taken our only remaining son who was our whole world and was everything to us since we also tragically lost our first son, 14 years ago,” said Halina and Antony Reid.
“He died suddenly from a cardiac arrest, aged just 19. Our GP practice was well aware of our previous tragic family circumstance.
“This error has impacted both our emotional, psychological and physical health and has left us now childless, with no family and no future capacity for peace or true happiness. It has destroyed us.”
In a statement, Mr and Mrs Reid disclosed how their son had protested at receiving the vaccine early, having “queried his invitation in a phone call to his surgery”.
But the GP practice had recorded his details wrongly.
His death, compounded by that error and the rare side effects linked to the vaccine, had felt “like two nails in our personal coffin”.
‘He should not have been invited for vaccination’
His parents said: “Alex was invited early to have his vaccination. It has taken two years and five months to fully investigate and establish the reason why and we now have clear evidence that Alex’s GP practice… had incorrectly recorded him as being 22 stone in weight.
“This fatal error automatically placed him in Category 6: aged 16 to 64 and ‘clinically vulnerable’.
“He should not have been invited for vaccination when he was. Had he been invited for vaccination at a later, appropriate time, he would have been offered an alternative to AstraZeneca… If this had been the case, he would still be alive today.”
Mr and Mrs Reid added: “Alex’s death, along with many cases of profound illness and disability due to this vaccine, is something that has not been acknowledged yet or accounted for by the Government or AstraZeneca. Nor has an apology been forthcoming.
“Alex is not a statistic. Alex was our whole world and our present and our future have been destroyed. Alex did the right thing by getting the vaccine when he was told to do so and he needs to be remembered as a hero and commemorated accordingly. We fully understand why a vaccine was required as so many people were dying from Covid.
“What we find unacceptable, immoral and fundamentally wrong is the way AstraZeneca and the Government chose to ignore the small number of people who were dying or seriously injured due to blood clots following the vaccine.”
They questioned the Government’s decision to indemnify AstraZeneca and the other Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers against legal actions in the event of adverse reactions - as VITT has turned out to be. They are angry that the Government has refused to intervene and offer families sufficient compensation.
Compensation scheme ‘not fit for purpose’
A government scheme - the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme - has paid a fixed sum of £120,000 to bereaved families and seriously disabled victims in 148 cases. Of those, at least 144 were for the AstraZeneca jab. Surviving victims and grieving relatives believe the scheme is “not fit for purpose”.
“We, along with other bereaved families and those injured, are fighting for justice, and for an acknowledgment and admission from both the Government and AstraZeneca that deaths DID occur, from a vaccine that was quickly approved and rolled out in the UK,” said Mr and Mrs Reid in their statement, adding: “Some European countries restricted [the AstraZeneca vaccine] to certain age groups, and some countries even stopped using altogether.”
Alex Reid’s parents expressed their concern that “young people at the prime of their lives”, like their son, had been put under “extreme and exorbitant pressure” to have the Covid vaccination
“He did the right thing in trying to protect himself as well as his family by getting the vaccine when he was told to do so,” said Mr and Mrs Reid.
“Yet, his death, not from Covid, but from a vaccine, has not yet been acknowledged and has impacted on the rest of our lives.
‘Not enough information about very serious risks’
“It feels as if the Government was prepared to accept these small number of deaths and serious injuries as they wanted to be seen as world leaders in vaccine production.
“There was in fact not enough information about the very serious risks. At the time of his death, we received no emotional, psychological, or financial support.”
They questioned the speed of the rollout. Official figures subsequently show the very rare condition - of blood clots occurring with low blood platelets - occurred in about 1 in 50,000 people under the age of 50.
“When this vaccine was rolled out, it seems that speed above safety was more important to this government. Safety, efficacy and adverse reactions were last on the agenda,” said Mr and Mrs Reid.
Ruth Bundey, the couple’s lawyer, said: “The coroner’s conclusions are gratefully welcomed, but it has been a long and agonising wait for the correct information to be passed to him from Alex’s surgery and from NHS England.”
Mr Longstaff, the coroner, said in recording his narrative verdict: “The cause of his death established at post mortem was linked to his having received the Covid-19 Oxford AstraZeneca vaccination.
“He [Alex] had been invited to receive his vaccination earlier than his age alone would have entitled him to do so. This was because an incorrectly recorded BMI of 68.97 on April 6 2004 had classified him as morbidly obese for the purposes of identifying vulnerable people who should be invited to receive their vaccinations early.”
The coroner went on: “Had he not been invited to receive his vaccination early, Alex would not have received his first vaccination before April 7 2021, when official advice was given that those aged under 30 (as Alex was), should not receive the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccination as their first vaccination.
“In the event, having received his first vaccination on March 21 2021, Alex received his second on May 18 2021.
“On the balance of probabilities, had he not received the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccination, Alex would not have died when he did.”
‘Patient safety is our highest priority’
AstraZeneca said in a statement: “Patient safety is our highest priority and regulatory authorities have clear and stringent standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines. Our sympathy goes out to anyone who has lost loved ones or reported health problems.
“From the body of evidence in clinical trials and real-world data, Vaxzevria has continuously been shown to have an acceptable safety profile and regulators around the world consistently state that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.
“The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority has granted full marketing approval for Vaxzevria for the UK based on the safety profile and efficacy of the vaccine.”
Sir Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca’s chief executive, said last week in the wake of a series of Telegraph reports: “When anybody suffers from side effects, it makes me sad and I would like to offer my sympathy.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Throughout the pandemic, the Government acted to save lives and livelihoods, prevent the NHS being overwhelmed and deliver a world-leading vaccine rollout which protected millions of lives across the nation.
“We have always said there are lessons to be learnt from the pandemic and we are committed to learning from the Covid-19 Inquiry’s findings which will play a key role in informing the Government’s planning and preparations for the future.
“We will consider all recommendations made to the department in full.”
Families bringing legal actions against AstraZeneca have launched a fundraising campaign to help to pay for the litigation which can be found on: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/vaccine-injured-and-bereaved/
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