Covid Vaccine Volunteer Struck By Lightning Month After Receiving Jab

Doctors diagnosed the person - whose name and gender has not been revealed - with arrhythmia, also known as an irregular heartbeat.

It is believed the arrhythmia was caused by the lightning strike, with no further updates given on the volunteer's condition.

The FDA shared news of the incident as part of its written media briefing, detailing the safety of the new Moderna vaccine.

It was one of three 'Serious Adverse Effects' suffered by volunteers from the trial, although all of these were deemed unrelated to the vaccine itself.

The FDA report said: "As of December 6, 2020, there were 3 SAEs reported in the vaccine group: a 65-year-old participant with community acquired pneumonia 25 days after vaccination, a 72-year-old participant with arrhythmia after being struck by lightning 28 days after vaccination, and an 87- year-old participant with worsening of chronic bradycardia 45 days after vaccination.

"On FDA review of the narratives, none of these SAEs are assessed as related. There were no cases of severe Covid-19 reported in the study."

The Moderna vaccine has an official name of mRNA-1273, and has been deemed safe by the US government with 94 percent effectiveness.

Browning said he felt the risks were 'minimal' compared to the positive impact it could have globally.

Speaking via video link from Seattle on Good Morning Britain last month, he said: "Because I was in the early trial they went ahead and gave us the dose and had us stay in the clinic for an hour or so to make sure there was no really adverse reactions as this had previously not been given to animals, let alone humans.

"The second injection was four weeks later. Both times I experienced no issues other than waking up with a sore arm - very slightly sore - the next morning. Just like a regular flu shot."

When Browning was asked if he felt nervous about volunteering, he continued: "There's always going to be people that are opposed to vaccination. My mother is a registered nurse, my wife is a registered nurse, so I've grown up in and around medicine all of my life.

"I did the research. They produced reams of documents explaining how this works, what it does. The risks seem minimal compared to what the benefits to the world could do.

"There's no chance of actually catching Covid-19 from this because there's no part of the virus in this vaccine."