Photo/Illutration A Pfizer vaccine targeting the Omicron variant (Provided by Pfizer)

For the first time, a panel of experts advising the health ministry has not ruled out the possibility that a COVID-19 vaccine may have contributed to a 42-year-old woman's death in November 2022.

The panel has been assessing the causal relationship between the COVID-19 vaccine and deaths under a system that receives reports about possible side effects from the jab.

In the past, the panel has either not found a causal relationship or could not make a determination.

But at its March 10 meeting, the panel said it could not rule out a causal relationship.

According to sources, the case involves Ayano Iioka, who had a Pfizer vaccine shot targeting the Omicron variant at a center in Aisai, Aichi Prefecture, in November 2022.

She became severely ill minutes after the shot and died shortly thereafter.

Iioka had several pre-existing health conditions, including high blood pressure and diabetes.

The panel evaluated a scan test record to determine if her cause of death was pulmonary thromboembolism, but no confirmation could be made.

That led the panel to conclude they could not identify a specific abnormal finding that might have been the cause of death other than the vaccination.

But the panel also said it could not conclude that a severe allergic reaction, called anaphylaxis, had occurred due to the vaccination.

Under the vaccine side effect reporting system, a comprehensive evaluation from medical and pharmaceutical standpoints is conducted after reports are received from doctors and pharmaceutical companies about suspected cases.

There is a separate system to provide support for those who suffer health damage due to vaccines in which a patient or bereaved family members can apply for reimbursement of medical expenses or a one-time payment at the death of a patient.

There have been 30 cases in which the one-time payments have been made because a causal relationship between a vaccination and death could not be ruled out.

According to health ministry officials, the health damage support system does not require as strict a causal relationship as needed under the side effects reporting system.

As a result, one-time payments have been made even in some cases where an evaluation of a causal relationship could not be made under the side effects reporting system.

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