Age: 29.0
Sex: M
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Aphasia, Balance disorder, Cardiac assistance device user, Cardiac disorder, Cerebrovascular accident
Clinical narrative: left sided weakness; it has weakened his heart; stutter; severe stroke like symptoms; Ventricular tachycardia/help keep his heart rate at bay; Loss of balance; extreme numbness and tingling in left hand and foot; tingling in left hand and foot; oral motor impairment; mouth weakness and not coordinated/mouth is fatigued easily; Issues finding words and trouble speaking; Issues finding words and trouble speaking; Ejection fraction down to 25%; The initial case was missing the following minimum criteria: adverse event. Upon receipt of follow-up information on 28Dec2020, this case now contains all required information to be considered valid.  This is a spontaneous report from a contactable other healthcare professional (HCP). A 29-years-old male patient received bnt162b2 (lot number: EJ1685), intramuscular (deltoid left) on 21Dec2020 at 05:30 at 0.3 mL single (first dose) for Covid. Medical history was reported as "none". Concomitant medications were not reported. The patient previously received Flu vaccine in Oct2020 for immunization. The patient is an Occupational Therapist, and he called to report an adverse event that he experienced with the first dose of the COVID Vaccine. He received the vaccine last Monday, 21Dec2020 at 5:30AM before his shift at work, then 20 minutes later, he was having severe stroke like symptoms. He experienced severe left sided weakness, loss of balance, extreme numbness and tingling in his left hand and foot, he had issues finding his words and he couldn't speak, and he had an oral motor impairment where his mouth was weak and not coordinated. The staff at the hospital did a neurological exam on him, and he failed, so he had to go to the emergency room (ER). The patient added that he was already in the hospital when this happened, and the ER doctors suspected that he had a CVA, and they gave him TPA to prevent any permanent brain damage and it worked. The patient then added that due to the shock of this whole event, from  everything that happened, it has weakened his heart. Reportedly, he is a healthy 29 year old man, with no preexisting conditions, and he works out, and he has no heart conditions, but he had to get a cardiology follow up a few days after he got the vaccine, because he started going in to Ventricular Tachycardia, which he had never had in his life. So, the doctors at the hospital went ahead and did an Echocardiogram and an EKG, and he was told that his Ejection Fraction is down to 25%. He stated his heart is so weak, that he cannot work right now, but the structure of his heart is fine and has not had any damage. The hospital staff thought that maybe the patient had a chronic heart issue that he just did not know about, and that the stress of this event maybe made it kick into overdrive, but he states that the cardiologist said that was not the case, because the structure of his heart is fine, and the only thing they can see is that the heart is pumping weak. One physician even suggested that due to the shock of the event, he might have Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy, which is a broken heart, but because the structure of his heart is okay, it should be reversible. He stated that he is hoping he will heal up good, because he is young and has no pre-existing conditions. He added that his heart is in such a state right now; he has to wear an external defibrillator. The patient stated that all these happened about 20 minutes after he received the vaccine, and he was admitted to the hospital from 21Dec2020 to 25Dec2020. His neurological symptoms have resolved except that he has a stutter that he did not have before and his mouth is fatigued easily, so he has to slow down when he is eating, but now he can eat regular for the most part. The patient confirmed that he was not specifically prescribed the product; it was administered to him at his place of work, but it was optional. He stated he considered how he is working with COVID patients every day, and given the circumstance, he thought that it would be a best practice for him to get the vaccine. He had not gone to his primary care doctor in a while because he had been fine and healthy, but he called them and found out that his primary care had retired, so he has to find a new one now. Regarding the issues finding words and trouble speaking, he stated that he has improved, but it is still ongoing, he is just stuck in a plateau zone. With the Ventricular Tachycardia, he stated that this is an ongoing issue, as he has to wear the life vest even though he has no need to activate it yet. He did have one minor bought of the VTach, but because he is a therapist, he knows how to take care of it with relaxation techniques, he knows how to manage it. He had one bought of VTach the evening prior, but he was able to get it under control. The doctors have him on medication to help keep his heart rate at bay. He has never had to use medication before and is on the following medications to help keep his heart rate at bay: Metoprolol 25mg one tablet once daily by mouth and Lisinopril 5mg one tablet once daily by mouth. The VTach has improved, it was good enough he was able to discharge home, but it is still a concern. His cardiologist said that, basically his hope, is that once his body recover from the whole shock of everything, then his ejection fraction will heal, and his heart will heal. He again stated that the doctor told him that the structure of his heart is perfectly fine; he has thick walls in his heart, no leaking valves, and the heart was not conducting any abnormal signals. The doctor just said that right now, his heart is super weak and that it is an acute problem. With the Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy, he states that two doctors mentioned this diagnosis, but he confirmed that he was not actually diagnosed with this issue, he was just diagnosed with Ventricular Tachycardia. The outcome of the ejection fraction down to 25% was unknown to the patient at this time as he has not had another EKG or echocardiogram, but the cardiologist told him that the cardiologist expects that this will not be resolved quickly anyway. The patient confirmed that he did not receive any other vaccines on the same day he received the COVID vaccine. The only other vaccine he had this year was the flu vaccine which he got back in Oct2020. He has gone on to his online portal and there are the bloodwork results and all the imaging results on there from his CTs and MRIs, but he did not see the EKG or Echocardiogram results yet. He does not have this pulled up at this time, but he does have access to this stuff and can provide it later, if requested. He is curious about the next steps from here to how his case is processed. He is also curious if this information would help Pfizer make modifications to the vaccine if it is found that a lot of people are having the same reaction as he did. He is also wondering, given his situation, that probably he is not going to get the second dose, for his safety, but he is wondering what percentage of effectiveness the first dose does having just covered. The events left sided weakness, loss of balance, extreme numbness and tingling in left hand and foot resolved on 25Dec2020; severe stroke like symptoms and oral motor impairment; mouth weakness and not coordinated/mouth is fatigued easily resolved in 2020. The events ventricular tachycardia/help keep his heart rate at bay and issues finding words and trouble speaking were resolving, stutter had not resolved while the outcome of the events it has weakened his heart, and ejection fraction down to 25% was unknown.; Sender's Comments: The reported information is unclear and does not allowa meaningful assessment of the case. It will be reassessed upon receipt of follow up information. The impact of this report on the benefit/risk profile of the Pfizer product is evaluated as part of Pfizer procedures for safety evaluation, including the review and analysis of aggregate data for adverse events. Any safety concern identified as part of this review, as well as any appropriate action in response, will be promptly notified to regulatory authorities, Ethics Committees, and Investigators, as appropriate.