[Teeth53]

The board noted that Covid-19 infection can itself be a cause of myocarditis as well as other serious illnesses and it remains safer to be vaccinated than to be infected with the virus."

It is New Zealand's second reported death linked to the vaccine after the board said in late August that a woman's myocarditis was probably due to vaccination.

It said today that another two people had died with potential myocarditis following vaccination.

Further information was needed in the case of a 13-year-old child, while the death of a man in his 60s was unlikely related  to the vaccine, it said.

"The board considers that the circumstances of these cases do not impact or change the known information on myocarditis, and the benefits of vaccination with the Pfizer vaccine for Covid-19 continue to greatly outweigh the risk of such rare side effects," it said.

"The board has recommended actions to be taken by the Covid-19 Vaccine and Immunisation Programme to continue to highlight myocarditis as a very rare side effect of the Pfizer vaccine."