Reporting a Fatal Event to the Yellow Card System

A sorry saga of delay and impediment

This post was written by one of our readers who would like to remain anonymous. The facts are as reported.

I reported the death of a dear friend to the MHRA’s Yellow Card Scheme back in March 2021. She had become immediately unwell following her first COVID-19 vaccination, a pain at the injection site spreading across her chest and leading to a minor heart attack nine days later. Eight days after that, she was dead.

A full 10 months elapsed before the MHRA finally got back in touch to request more details. I had assumed they were busy following up on my report, so I didn’t think to chase them.

I answered the questions as best I could. We didn’t know which vaccine brand or batch number had been administered, but the Yellow Card Service Team assured me they would contact our friend’s GP surgery and obtain those details. Once they had them, they said they would update me.

Weeks, then months, went by. I chased via email, and on 12 April 2022, over a year since my original report, I was told t…