On March 21 2021, Mr Reid was given his first dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.
Mr Longstaff said: “When Alex was invited to receive his vaccination early, he did not understand why, and no one was able to tell him.”
Just one month later, official advice was issued that stated people under the age of 30 “should not receive the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccination as their first” dose.
The Government’s vaccine advisers had recommended that recipients under this age should receive alternatives to AstraZeneca because of the risk of blood clots.
In May, Mr Reid received his second dose of the vaccine. He was given the AstraZeneca because he had already had the vaccine as a first dose.
On June 29 in Leeds General Infirmary, Mr Reid died of a blood clot on the brain. The coroner recorded the cause of death as vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, a new condition linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine that is suspected of causing more than 80 deaths in the UK and hundreds more serious disabilities.
Mr Longstaff recorded a narrative conclusion “reflecting Alex’s death being linked to his having received the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccination against Covid-19”.
Alex ‘would not have died’
The coroner said: “If the obviously erroneous BMI had not been recorded or had been challenged at the point of entry by the relevant IT system, Alex would not have been classed as vulnerable, would not have been offered a vaccine before guidance was published that the under 30s should not receive the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, and would not have died when he did.”
Mr Longstaff wrote to the national Chief Clinical Information Officer and Chief Information Officer of NHS England amongst others.
“In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you or organisation have the power to take such action,” he said.
Each organisation has 56 days to respond to his recommendations.
Mr Longstaff’s warning comes after AstraZeneca admitted for the first time in court documents that its Covid vaccine can cause a rare side effect of blood clots with low blood platelet count.
Mr Reid’s distraught parents have previously told The Telegraph of their distress. They said their “happy, healthy, precious and beloved” son’s death was “unacceptable, immoral and fundamentally wrong”, and accused AstraZeneca and the Government of ignoring “the small number” of people who died or were seriously affected as a result of the blood clots in order to quickly roll out the vaccine during the pandemic.