The first Albertan to die from a rare blood clot condition linked to a COVID-19 vaccine was turned away from an Edmonton hospital two days before her death, a family friend says. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, said Tuesday that a woman in her 50s died of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine. Wilfred Lowenberg, a friend, said Stonehouse was turned away from the emergency department at the Grey Nuns Community Hospital. Last month, Quebec reported Canada's first death of a patient after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine. She said Albertans ages 50 to 59 diagnosed with COVID-19 are 350 times more likely to die from that infection than to experience VITT after an AstraZeneca vaccine.

Source: CBC News May 06, 2021 13:01 UTC