MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Brad Malagarie got his Johnson & Johnson vaccine in coastal Mississippi. He suffered a stroke about four hours later, his aunt says.
Dane Cosson, a Seminole native currently working in Hawaii, got his shot Monday on the island. He passed out immediately after
“Four or 5 seconds after I was like oh I barely felt it,” he said. “Then all of a sudden I just woke up. They said it was about a minute and a half, two minutes, maybe later. Had a seizure, they said I was foaming at the mouth. I remember waking up and wiping spit and drool off my face.”
Cosson said while that experience was scary, he now feels fine, aside from the expected flu-like symptoms. He still recommends people go with Pfizer or Moderna.
Malagarie, meanwhile, faces a projected years-long recovery.
“I just hope he gets better,” his aunt Celeste O’Keefe said, through tears. “He still can’t talk, he can’t move.”
She said he left work to get his Johnson & Johnson vaccine shot around 12:30 Tuesday of last week. About four hours later, “just looked at him – and he fell out of the chair.”
The recommended pause on the vaccine stems from reports of some recipients developing blood clots within two weeks of getting their shots. None of those reports were in Alabama. The CDC is still working to determine a surefire connection.
“And if you want to say it’s only a few and it’s only so many. Well yeah.. until it’s your child or your nephew and you affected a lot of lives,” O’Keefe said.
Malagarie was a healthy 43-year-old. He has seven children. A fundraiser has been set up for his family. You can donate here.