State and federal agencies are investigating the death of Drene Keyes who received a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine and died within hours. Keyes, a Black woman from Glouchester, Virginia received a first dose of the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine on January 30, 2021, reported WBRZ.com. As she tried to get in her car, Keyes said to a coworker “Something is not right, Something’s not right” reported WTKR.com. Soon afterwards Keyes experienced vomiting and trouble breathing.
A doctor at the vaccination site saw that Keyes was struggling to breathe and gave her an epinephrine shot in the leg, said Keyes daughter, Lisa Jones. According to Jones, Keyes received oxygen and another shot of epinephrine in her arm but she didn’t improve. Keyes was taken to VCU Riverside Tappahannock Hospital where they administered an EpiPen, CPR, and oxygen. Keyes daughter told local reporters that fluid filled Keyes lungs in a ‘flash pulmonary edema.” Lisa Jones said “The doctor told me that often during anaphylaxis, chemicals are released inside of a person’s body and can cause this to happen.” Jones said that she was told the state won’t do a full autopsy “due to public health concerns.”
Keyes death is under investigation by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). On Friday, Health Commissioner M. Norman Oliver said “preliminarily findings indicate that the cause of death was not anaphylaxis, but it will take several weeks for additional information to become available” reported NBC12.com.
Drene Keyes was a gifted singer and grandmother of six. She worked as a supervisor for the Middle Peninsula Northern Neck Community Services Board, which made her eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Like many Black people, Keyes had underlying health conditions. She was obese, diabetic and took cholesterol and blood pressure medications. Lisa Jones said, “My mom was wanting to protect herself, and it did not turn out that way.”
