COVID-19 vaccination as a rare potential etiology for cause of death after medicolegal autopsy: A Finnish nationwide study

Abstract

COVID-19 vaccinations began globally at the end of 2020. By the end of 2021, 9.8 million doses were given in Finland. Regarding safety, most vaccine-related adverse reactions have been mild, but severe and lethal ones have also occurred. Autopsies in post vaccination deaths may give insight to the extent of fatal health conditions with potential COVID-19 vaccine etiology and provide new hypotheses of possible causalities between vaccination and severe health conditions. We searched the complete documentation on all medicolegal autopsies in Finland between December 2020 and December 2021 to assess how often the indication for autopsy was a suspected fatal adverse reaction to COVID-19 vaccination, and whether vaccination remained a potential etiology for any health condition determined as a cause of death after the autopsy. We linked register-based data on individual COVID-19 vaccination course and pre-existing health conditions. We found 428 autopsy cases with a mention of COVID-19 vaccination, and prior to autopsy, vaccination was suspected to play a part in 76 deaths. Post autopsy, a forensic pathologist considered vaccination to be potentially related to underlying cause of death in five and contributory cause of death in seven autopsy cases. These included seven thromboembolisms, two diabetic ketoacidoses, one myocarditis, one acute pancreatitis, and one eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis. In relation to the number of vaccinations within Finland, medicolegal autopsies were rarely performed because of a possible vaccine-related severe adverse reaction. Among the autopsies performed for such reasons, only a few considered a vaccine-related severe adverse reaction as a cause of death, although considerable doubt remains in the accuracy of individual considerations, and autopsy cannot definitively confirm causality between vaccination and death. Regarding vaccination safety, continuing evaluation of suspected vaccine-related deaths is essential, and autopsy should be considered in cases of death where vaccine etiology is possible.