Virginia Minister Dies Shortly after Receiving Covid-19 Vaccination

A Virginia minister died shortly after receiving a coronavirus vaccination, authorities said Friday.

Drene Keyes, 58, received her Pfizer vaccine at a clinic in Warsaw , before falling ill, Warsaw police Chief Joan Kent told NBC News.

Officials didn’t determined the cause of the death, or any underlying conditions Keyes might have had that could have contributed to her death, asserting that there was no evidence it was tied to the vaccination.

Keyes remained at the clinic for 15 minutes after the shot, as recommended.

Before returning to the clinic later that day, she was rushed to VCU Health Tappahannock Hospital, where she died on Saturday.

State Health Commissioner M. Norman Oliver affirmed that she did not die from any allergic reaction connected to the vaccine.

"Preliminary findings indicate that the cause of death was not anaphylaxis, but it will take several weeks for additional information to become available," Oliver said in a statement on Friday.

"We can confirm that the death occurred within hours of having received the vaccine, but that is not evidence of it being related,” he added. “ We are currently investigating and do not yet know the cause of death."

The Church of Abraham, in Gloucester, about 60 miles south of Warsaw, called Keyes one of their ministers.

"If we had been warned, we would have laughed more, hugged more, worshiped more, and said I love you even more," the church said in a statement. "But without warning, our beloved was called away."