Former U.S. Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell died of complications from COVID-19, his family announced on social media in October.
“He was fully vaccinated,” the second sentence stated.
Few details were given. The tweet thanked the staff at Walter Reed National Medical Center, where Powell was being treated, and stated, “we have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather, and a great American.”
Connections Disavowed
Powell is the most prominent vaccinated person in the United States to die of COVID-19.
Baseball great Hank Aaron died on January 22 within three weeks of getting his COVID-19 shot. Aaron, who was age 86 at the time, posed for cameras before getting his vaccine, to encourage black Americans to do the same.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was quick to dismiss the idea the vaccination was related to Aaron’s death.
“He passed in his sleep, the same way my dad died nearly 30 years ago” Bottoms tweeted.
Other notables whose deaths prompted swift denials of a COVID-19 vaccine connection include former CNN host Larry King (January 23), boxing legend Marvin Hagler (March 13), and rapper DMX (April 2).
Unacknowledged Breakthrough?
Most surprising about Powell’s death is that it was not listed as a “breakthrough” COVID-19 infection, says Joel Hirschhorn, author of Pandemic Blunder.
“’Breakthrough’ just means a vaccinated person who comes down with COVID, and these days the breakthrough cases are for the Delta variant because all the current vaccines are not effective against Delta,” said Hirschhorn.
The vaccines became widely available in January, and given his age, Powell was likely at the top of the list for getting one.
“It is now clear that current vaccines lose their effectiveness in six months, and that is why the government is pushing for booster shots,” said Hirschhorn. “But getting those with the same vaccines will not protect against Delta.”
Data Debate
Hirschhorn reviewed Medicare data to identify unreported deaths associated with the COVID-19 vaccines and ascertain whether COVID-19 deaths have been overstated, which could raise serious questions about the risk and benefits of the shots.
A report published on September 22 on the website The Expose claims more than 150,000 people, including 600 children, have died from complications related to the COVID-19 vaccines. The authors conducted a statistical analysis of the Vaccine Adverse Event Report System (VAERS).
An unnamed spokesperson from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration told Reuters on October 4 the report is inaccurate.
AnneMarie Schieber (amschieber@heartland.org) is the managing editor of Health Care News.