CALAVERAS COUNTY, Calif. — A Calaveras County man claims he was diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs less than two weeks after his first COVID-19 vaccine does.
David Carlin emailed ABC10 after he received his first dose of the Moderna vaccine.
"Just bang, blood clots," said Carlin. "11 days later... That's suspicious."
Carlin said he was excited to get vaccinated as he travels a lot and wants to get back to his normal life. He also noted he does not have any prior history of blood clots in his health record or family history.
"I thought I'd get the vaccine and I'll be good to go as soon as things are open," said Carlin. "I was very eager to get it."
After rolling up his sleeve once, he is in no hurry to get a second dose.
Carlin says during his second hospital visit, he ended up being hospitalized for five days with pulmonary embolism in both lungs.
"I couldn't barely breathe," he explained. "It took forever to catch my breath."
Two emergency room visits later, Carlin is finally feeling better but he does not want to risk getting another blood clot.
"Now this puts me in the quandary," he said. "I don't want to get the second shot. What do I do? I don't know what to do?"
ABC10 Medical Expert Dr. Payal Kohli says Carlin can skip the second dose due to the possibility that the first dose caused the blood clots.
The question remains, how could the Moderna vaccine cause blood clots?
"Immune activation from vaccinations causing these types of phenomenon to happen is not unheard of and not specific to any specific vaccine," explained Kohli.
Blood clots have been previously reported in patients who received the Astra Zenneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines but what about Moderna?
"If you look at a database, there have been other reports of blood clots to Moderna and Pfizer," said Kohli.
A look at the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System shows that is true. Multiple reports mention blood clots.
"It's possible that this is a perfect storm," said Kohli. "It's possible this happened by chance."
That is why it is so important for people to report what side effects they face after taking a COVID-19 vaccine. The CDC is tracking the data and looks for patterns.
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