[00:00:00]

Shawn Buckley

Welcome back to the National Citizens Inquiry. As we continue on the second day in Red Deer, our next guest is attending virtually. Drue Taylor. Drue, can you hear me?

Drue Taylor

Yes, I can.

Shawn Buckley

Now, Drue, you are 33 years of age.

Drue Taylor

I am.

Shawn Buckley

I’m going to begin by asking if you can state your full name, spelling your first and last name for the record.

Drue Taylor

Sure. I’m Drue Taylor. D-R-U-E T-A-Y-L-O-R.

Shawn Buckley

And Drue, do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Drue Taylor

I do.

Shawn Buckley

Now, I had pointed out that you’re aged 33, just because I want people watching your testimony today to appreciate that you’re a young person. Now, how would you describe yourself before you became vaccinated?

Drue Taylor

I was extremely active, very lively, and just tons of fun.

Shawn Buckley

Okay, and my understanding is, you were a yoga instructor, is one of the things that you did?

Drue Taylor

I was. And a professional massage therapist for humans and horses.

Shawn Buckley

Right, and going back to the yoga thing, though, you actually did a class that was termed as power yoga.

Drue Taylor

I did. And I also did weighted yoga where you do power, different type of things with weights.

Shawn Buckley

Right, so when you tell us that you were very fit and you’re very active, you were actually, basically, as a professional yoga trainer leading classes that fit people would find to be challenging.

Drue Taylor

They did.

Shawn Buckley

Okay. So can I ask you what led you to become vaccinated? What was going through your mind? What were the issues?

Drue Taylor

Well, as someone who loves science, and the medical community has saved me a couple of times with medications. At the same time, I’ve never had any reason to not trust a vaccine. I’ve never had a reaction from one. I’ve had all vaccinations that have been asked of me or required for travels, and I’ve never had a reaction. So going into hearing about the COVID vaccines, honestly, I was actually kind of excited for protection of COVID.

Shawn Buckley

Okay. The mainstream messaging was telling us that it would be a protection and you were excited about that protection. Did you seek any advice before getting vaccinated?

Drue Taylor

Absolutely. I did. I have had a blood clot in my lung before. I have a condition called Leiden Factor V [V Leiden]. So it makes my blood 15 per cent thicker than the average person. So before vaccination, I did see my primary health care doctor, and he highly recommended the vaccination because COVID also causes blood clots. He just said not to take AstraZeneca because, at that time, there was already some things with blood clots related to that. He suggested I take Moderna.

Shawn Buckley

Okay, so this doctor that you consulted, was this your family doctor?

Drue Taylor

Yes, absolutely.

Shawn Buckley

So you specifically asked about it because of this pre-existing condition, and your doctor encouraged you. And just so that the people watching your testimony, you said your blood is 15 per cent thicker. The risk of that is you are more likely to form blood clots than other people.

Drue Taylor

Yes, that’s correct.

<b>Shawn Buckley</b>

Okay. So the doctor is saying actually COVID causes blood clots, so that you need to be protected from COVID.

Drue Taylor

Yes, I was in the high-risk category.

Shawn Buckley

Okay. Now my understanding is that you got your first shot on April 24, 2021, and that was a Moderna shot.

Drue Taylor

That’s correct.

Shawn Buckley

Can you share with us what happened?

Drue Taylor

The day we got the shot, honestly, I was relaxed. I was happy after the shot. We went home and within four to six hours, I did not feel okay. It felt like my heart was going to literally beat out of my chest. If you are a female, you’ve ever had pregnancy and a baby kicking in your uterus, it’s exactly what it felt like, but in my chest. Just really hard kicks. And then whenever I stood up, I would just feel this immense pressure. I would get super dizzy, extremely nauseated. I could hear my heartbeat in my head. I didn’t feel normal. I felt like I was going to just black out, whenever I stood up.

[00:05:00]

So I did end up going to the emergency room that night.

Shawn Buckley

And what happened at the emergency room?

Drue Taylor

They did testing, like EKGs [Electrocardiogram] and that came back normal. But when I was doing that, I was lying down. The nurse caught sinus tachycardia. So when I would stand up, my heart rate would go to 130 beats per minute. But all of their testing and blood work that they had done that night, they said came back normal. So I was sent home. The emergency doctor requested an emergency Holter to assess my heart further.

Shawn Buckley

And when you’re telling us that when you stood up, your heart rate would be 130 beats a minute. That still is a resting heartbeat, right? You weren’t doing any exercise or walking around. All you did was stand up.

Drue Taylor

That’s correct.

Shawn Buckley

Okay. So you’re sent home with the Holter. What do you do the next day? You contact your doctor.

Drue Taylor

So the emergency Holter didn’t actually come right away. She requested it. It came a while later. But going home the next morning and into the next day, I actually received a phone call. No, before that I contacted my family care doctor, and I let him know what happened to me. He immediately said don’t take the second vaccine. This is a reaction, and we need to figure this out. I want you to stay home and rest, and this is weird. We don’t know what’s going on, so rest and keep me updated.

Shawn Buckley

Now did your family doctor say anything about whether or not you should be taking the second shot?

Drue Taylor

Immediately. That was his first thing. He said, “Don’t do it.” He said, “This is a reaction. Don’t take the second vaccine.” That was his immediate response.

Shawn Buckley

Okay, and then my understanding is three days later you get a call from AHS [Alberta Health Services].

Drue Taylor

Yeah, so AHS, unknown to my doctor, they had their own doctor now on my case because the hospital had to put in that I had an adverse reaction because I was in the hospital in the ER within hours of taking a vaccination. But I got a phone call from a nurse named Karen, and she let me know that all my tests were coming back fine, and that it was not an adverse reaction. And I let her know that there was further testing going on.

Shawn Buckley

Now, so this is a nurse that’s telling you that it wasn’t an adverse reaction. My understanding is that she had reported that a Dr. Song had reviewed your case, and that she was just passing on that information?

Drue Taylor

That’s true.

Shawn Buckley

Did you ever speak with Dr. Song? Or be examined by Dr. Song?

Drue Taylor

No, and she refused to let me speak to him about my case. And I asked her specifically to talk with the doctor because I wanted to understand his reasoning. And she said, “No.”

Shawn Buckley

In your life, whenever you had, I assume you’ve been to the ER before, had you ever gotten a call from AHS following an emergency room visit before?

Drue Taylor

Never. I’ve never had doctors I didn’t know contact me or be put on any kind of health case I’ve had, ever in my life.

Shawn Buckley

Okay, and did this Karen tell you anything else? Did she tell you about your symptoms and perhaps what you should do?

Drue Taylor

At this point no. Like I said, I let her know that further testing was going on. I wasn’t willing, like I didn’t want to talk about the vaccines at that point, because I was pretty stubborn in that I definitely had some kind of reaction, because it was right after. So I was frustrated in talking with her.

Shawn Buckley

Now, you had a few conversations with her.

Drue Taylor

Three. She called me three times.

Shawn Buckley

Okay, can you tell us about the other calls that she made?

Drue Taylor

Sure. So after the Holter monitor came back normal, the cardiologist at the Sturgeon Hospital also asked for an echo of my heart, an ultrasound of my heart, and that came back normal as well. And then at that point, he referred me to another cardiologist, Dr. Gee, at the Royal Alec [Royal Alexandra Hospital]. And I had seen him, and he was suggesting that I might have POTS [Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome]. And this is the first time I had heard about POTS, but I was going to have to wait for a testing. So to test for POTS, which is Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, you have to do a tilt table test. And it was COVID. That it was happening, there was a lot of different closures, and different things were being, you know –

Shawn Buckley

Drue, I’m just going to slow you down. And maybe just back up and ask

[00:10:00]

you about the second and third call a little later. But she’s communicated to you that it’s not a vaccine reaction?

Drue Taylor

Yes.

Shawn Buckley

But your doctor thought you did have a reaction.

Drue Taylor

Yes.

Shawn Buckley

To the vaccine. And my understanding is you also spoke to the pharmacist.

Shawn Buckley

Yes, I did. The pharmacist I called back, as well with my doctor, the day after I ended up in the hospital. And she said that she would file the paper works necessary.

Shawn Buckley

Right, so the pharmacist thought it was a reaction also.

Drue Taylor

Immediately, yeah.

Shawn Buckley

Okay. So after this first call from Karen at AHS, what symptoms were going on and continuing?

Drue Taylor

There were 15, 20 plus symptoms.

Presyncope: So, I felt like I was going to pass out any time I stood up. I would have to hold myself against the wall for a few minutes when I first stood up, and this is something I still do.

Blood pooling: So my blood would pool, and it was into my fingers, my tip of my nose and my feet really bad.

I would have numbness in my hands and my feet. Random extreme body pains.

My entire diet changed. Whenever I ate, I would feel like my heart was rushing. And I felt like I was going to pass out just from eating.

Someone coming to talk to me, whether they were really excited, or if one of my kids was having an issue or something like that, where it was a more stressful situation, I would immediately feel sick.

I was also getting sick daily, multiple times, daily. Basically, anytime I tried to ingest anything, I would either get sick or have horrible constipation. Basically, anything my body used to do, was not doing.

Shawn Buckley

Was there any shaking in your body?

Drue Taylor

I had extreme trembles, and I still do. But my hands will shake and my whole body just feels shaky. Yeah, I tremble, and I would tremble.

Shawn Buckley

Did this affect the way you had to shower?

Drue Taylor

Oh. Showering immediately made me feel like I was going to faint. There’s no way I could be in a warm or hot shower without having a severe issue. And it just made me feel like I was, you know, in the middle of a storm on a ship and I couldn’t see. It was horrible.

Shawn Buckley

Right, and what about your sleep?

Drue Taylor

I could only sleep about 20, 30 minutes at a time before my body would then wake me up with my heart racing. I felt like I was falling out of an airplane. And I would wake up feeling like, “I have to go now. Something is going on and the war was at my door.” Only 20, 30 minutes of sleep is what I could manage before a massive cold sweat and waking up to feeling terrified.

Shawn Buckley

Right, and were you able to continue with your employment at this time?

Drue Taylor

No. At this time, I owned my own massage therapy company and was still teaching yoga. I could not see any clients.

Shawn Buckley

Now, how long did these symptoms that you’ve described go on?

Drue Taylor

They lasted pretty severely for five to seven weeks after the first vaccination. And they slowly started becoming manageable. But then all of a sudden summer hit, and the heat outside, I started having new symptoms like heat strokes, which I’ve never experienced. I used to teach hot yoga. So the symptoms lasted. I wasn’t ever able to get back to my full normal work ethic or normal self.

Shawn Buckley

Okay, now you did start trying to work again. Can you tell us about how that went?

Drue Taylor

Sure. About after five to seven weeks, I slowly started taking on, one to three clients in a week. But after I tried to workÑ, the way I’ve always done massage therapy is a very physical way. And I was drenched in sweat after a 60-minute massage, which is not typical for me. I had scrubs and two layers underneath, and everything was soaked, and I was just dripping. I felt like I had ran three marathons and like I, again, went to war yesterday. So after one massage, I was just drained for the whole day, and no one could even approach me. My head was just pounding, and symptoms were severe.

Shawn Buckley

Now prior to your vaccination, how many clients would you typically handle a day in your massage practice?

[00:15:00]

Drue Taylor

Anywhere from five to eight clients in a day. And if I was working with my horses, anywhere from one to four in a day.

Shawn Buckley

Okay, and again, you’re also a massage therapist for horses.

Drue Taylor

Yes.

Shawn Buckley

Now, let’s talk about your second call from AHS. Can you tell us about that?

Drue Taylor

Sure. So that was after I had seen the second cardiologist who had suggested POTS, but I was waiting on the tilt test. So this was between my tilt table test to determine POTS and the first vaccine, so it was around August, she called me. Then at this point, I was starting to, like I said, feel the symptoms of the heat and things were, I still wasn’t right. But she called me, and she told me that based, again, on all of the information that she had, from the echo, from the original Holter, that I had nothing wrong with me, and that I should get the second vaccine. And at this point, she absolutely said that there was actually, not only that I should get the second vaccine, but I needed to because I have had a blood clot in my lung before. So she told me I needed to get the second vaccine, even though my cardiologist at the Royal Alec was waiting for further testing. And he, at this point, did not recommend the second vaccine.

Shawn Buckley

And again, had any AHS doctor even spoke to you, let alone examine you?

Drue Taylor

No.

Shawn Buckley

And had AHS ever, prior to this vaccination, phoned you for anything?

Drue Taylor

No.

Shawn Buckley

And did you ask them to phone you? Did you engage in some process and ask them to contact you about this?

Drue Taylor

No. To be totally honest, I was probably pretty rude to her on the phone, because I was very frustrated that: a) she was calling me to tell me this without me talking to the doctor; and b) she was telling me to get the vaccine when at this point, I had several doctors telling me to wait.

Shawn Buckley

Right, and you would have communicated that to her, that your doctor was saying don’t.

Drue Taylor

Oh, I did.

Shawn Buckley

Right. Now your symptoms continued. Can you tell us kind of how things progressed?

Drue Taylor

Sure. So like I said, in the summer, I was experiencing extreme heat issues. We normally go to BC, and I was, the entire time we were there, I just was sick. My head was screaming. I felt like I couldn’t talk to people. Going out in the sun was just awful. I just basically cried and stayed downstairs trying to stay cool.

Towards the fall, I did end up getting the tilt test. I believe that ended up happening in November. So it was really late fall, beginning of –

Shawn Buckley

Now, this this is for POTS, right?

Drue Taylor

Yeah, so a tilt table test.

Shawn Buckley

Can you explain what the word, the acronym POTS stands for and what it is? Just so that people listening to your testimony understand what you’re being tested for.

Drue Taylor

Sure. POTS is postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. So basically, when a person stands up and their heart rate reaches above 130 or higher, and it maintains that as they stand, that’s POTS. It’s postural tachycardia, so when you stand your heart rate goes crazy.

Shawn Buckley

Okay, so Dr. Gee had suggested that you take this test. And you do. And tell us what happened.

Drue Taylor

So I did take the tilt table test with Dr. Gee in November, by the time it was able to happen. And they told me it was inconclusive. When it was said and done, I didn’t pass out, but again, at this point, I had never passed out. I had only felt pre-syncope, or like I was going to pass out. So when the test was concluded, Dr. Gee came in and he talked with me for a few minutes saying that I should get the second vaccine, and he was not going to be giving me an exemption. He believed it was a coincidence that I had symptoms so quickly after. He left the room then. Oh, sorry. He also told me that he would be referring me to a neurologist for my anxiety and he dismissed all other symptoms.

After he left the room, there was also a resident cardiologist who had been present for the tilt table test, and the nurse who had been there the whole time tracking my blood pressure. This resident cardiologist and nurse proceeded to then talk to me for 15 minutes, about why it was important for me to get the second vaccine. They talked about their personal experiences with it, and why they believed that I absolutely should. And the nurse’s advice to me was just to simply have some pickles in reference to my symptoms.

[00:20:00]

Shawn Buckley

So you have basically largely been disabled. You have been seeing doctor after doctor. You’re not actually passing out with this table test, but I imagine your heart rate is being measured and it’s going through the roof, which is not normal. And the cardiologist tells you to get the second shot, and you probably weren’t even asking about whether you should or shouldn’t. Am I right?

Drue Taylor

That’s correct. At that point, I just wanted to know what the heck was wrong with me.

Shawn Buckley

And then the resident doctor and the nurse, and I assume you didn’t ask them about whether you should get vaccinated or not, lecture you for 15 minutes.

Drue Taylor

They did.

Shawn Buckley

How did you interpret that? I mean, what did you think was going on, with all this energy by two doctors and a nurse, for you to take your second shot?

Drue Taylor

To be totally honest, I was so lost. I felt like I was in the middle of just everyone. I felt like the doctors had no idea what was wrong with me because there was no information on this vaccine, and then they couldn’t pinpoint or tell me. But they also didn’t want to take any kind of, I don’t know if I want to say blame as the correct word, but the doctors didn’t say, “I don’t know.” They could have said, “I don’t know what’s going on with you. You need further investigation.” But they didn’t. They said, “You don’t, and you need this vaccine.”

And that, to me, didn’t sit well. Because the science that I know and that I love, you continue testing. And then when you find something that, you know, makes the previous science null and void, you go with the new science. So it makes sense to me that people take this vaccine, that there’s going to be reactions. But what didn’t make sense is that they weren’t acknowledging me at all about that reaction. Why not study me instead? They just pushed this other vaccine on me, and I didn’t know what to do. I had no idea if I should take the second vaccine. Which I, at that point, I did feel like I should because I was scared to get a blood clot again. Because I’ve already had that and that was horrifying. So I was scared and confused and lost.

Shawn Buckley

And I’m just curious because this is December of 2021. Am I right?

Drue Taylor

Yes.

Shawn Buckley

And so COVID hit us in the beginning of 2020. So literally about two years in. Did anyone ever test you for antibodies to see if you had acquired COVID and then had obtained natural immunity?

Drue Taylor

No. I had voluntarily gone to get tested for COVID just because I was, you know, trying to take on clients in my home, and I wanted to be as careful as I could. So when they allowed it to be voluntary, I did go and get tested, and it was negative every time. And they never tested me further for any kind of antibodies.

Shawn Buckley

Right. Okay. So you go in to get your second dose on January 8th, 2022, when you get a shot of the Pfizer vaccine. Can you tell us what happened?

Drue Taylor

Right away it was okay. Honestly, I came home and hugged my husband, and I was like, oh my God, maybe I didn’t react to it. But then, about 24 hours later, all of my symptoms came back, tenfold, and I actually did begin passing out. I couldn’t stand without, just feeling like a bomb hit me. I couldn’t reach, sitting up straight would just make my heart rate skyrocket. Everything was worse and there was a lot more symptoms and they were more severe.

Shawn Buckley

Can you tell us about those?

Drue Taylor

Well, passing out for one thing. Standing up, sitting down, if I got stressed, I would pass out.  I couldn’t watch screens at all, like reading things, texting, talking, watching a show, nothing. I could basically just sit there and exist and even then, the room would spin. Throwing up was constant. Like I couldn’t keep anything down.

Going to the bathroom, I actually passed out trying to go to the bathroom. And it happened to me consistently. Anytime I tried to go to the bathroom, I was pretty much just passing out. Showers became impossible. Raising my hands to wash my hair or anything like that, that didn’t work.

I couldn’t communicate also. I was stumbling my words and I still do when my symptoms are high. I’m medicated right now, and I have lots of water in me, which I didn’t know I needed as much as I do now. But I couldn’t speak,

[00:25:00]

I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t do anything.

Shawn Buckley

Now it is 15 months after your second shot. Tell us about if you’re able to walk now, 15 months after your second shot.

Drue Taylor

Kind of. I use my walker and I have a cane that I often use. And some days I can make it around my house just walking, but I’m holding on to my counter, my table, and I’m using my arm on the wall. Still, I need this, just because when I stand up, I just start to feel dizzier and nauseous.

Shawn Buckley

And my understanding is, if you do choose to walk around your house, that you pay a physical price for that.

Drue Taylor

Oh my gosh, yes. Every day, just any activity that I do, I need to rest after. I’m not like I was. Every little thing I do requires rest and thought. Like, you know, getting up to go to the restroom for a normal person isn’t a thought. But for me, I have to get up, and then feel that rush a little bit. And then it just, I’m exhausted after something very simple. And it takes me some time to rest. Like even after this interview, I have to go lay down for probably two hours just to feel okay.

Shawn Buckley

Right, so for you sitting there doing this interview is going to exhaust you to the point where you’re going to have to go lay down for a couple of hours.

Drue Taylor

Absolutely.

Shawn Buckley

Can you go to the store with your walker?

Drue Taylor

No, I need a wheelchair if I’m going to a store somewhere where I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to sit down right away, and I don’t know how long I’ll have to walk for. I absolutely can’t go more than a block without an issue, so I take the wheelchair if I’m going to any kind of store. And I rarely go to a store because that usually takes me three, four days to just kind of recover from.

Shawn Buckley

Right, and are you able to reach above your head?

Drue Taylor

If I’m medicated and I have water in my system, I can do it. But still not without struggle. I still struggle to do that. I feel, again, this rush and I can hear my heart rate just in the back of my neck, and I get a massive headache.

Shawn Buckley

And how is showering today, 15 months after your second shot?

Drue Taylor

I still have to sit down. I generally take cold showers. Heat still is a massive trigger for a flare for me.

Shawn Buckley

Right, and I’m just thinking that, when you had seen Dr. Gee and done the table test, because you weren’t passing out, he said that you didn’t have POTS. Now there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that you have POTS. Am I correct?

Drue Taylor

That’s correct. I was diagnosed in April or May of last year. Dr. Raj diagnosed me with POTS and likelihood of hyper and genetic POTS, which is a sub-type.

Shawn Buckley

Okay, and there’s also no doubt that it’s the vaccine that caused it.

Drue Taylor

Yeah, it definitely triggered it.

Shawn Buckley

The doctors agree with that now.

Drue Taylor

Yes, they do.

Shawn Buckley

And has this affected your eating? So just again going to your experience now 15 months after your second shot.

Drue Taylor

Yeah, I can’t handle gluten, dairy, soy. Anything with histamines I stay away from. My diet is basically the same things every day and for me to get in, I’m not getting in enough calories still. I can’t eat enough in a day. I feel too sick. In fact, I feel better when I don’t eat much because digestion is something your autonomic nervous system handles, and mine is not functioning.

Shawn Buckley

Now, you’d mentioned, Dr. Raj. So he’s a new doctor that’s helping you. Is he giving you any hope going forward? How is he describing what your likely future is?

Drue Taylor

Dr. Raj has said to me that there is no cure for what I have, and his job is to make me comfortable. He said that more than 70 per cent of his patients do not end up back at work.

[00:30:00]

So he’s just trying to make me not as miserable in my day.

Shawn Buckley

So you’re 33 years old and your doctor is basically saying his job at this point is to make you comfortable.

Drue Taylor

Yup.

Shawn Buckley

How does this experience make you feel?

Drue Taylor

There is nothing that could have prepared me for this. And I feel like my life is literally turned upside down. And every day I have to choose to look at my silver linings, like my cup of tea that tastes good. I have to really, you know that’s my good thing. Where my friends are like, “I went to Mexico.” And I’m like, holy crap, for me to fly –

I don’t even know what to dream for right now for me, or to hope for because we’re a year plus after and I still need my walker. And pressure changes suck with the weather. I can tell it makes me flare.

This whole process has been, It’s devastating. It’s extremely depressing. I really struggle right now to push through every single day. And to just listen to the comments from people who don’t understand what I’m going through, like, “Why aren’t you better yet?” It’s like, because I have chronic illnesses now, and I have to explain this so many times, as does my husband, that nothing in our lives is normal right now.

Shawn Buckley

Can you tell us how this has affected your children?

Drue Taylor

They’re such good kids. They were really used to me being the mom that would run next to them when they rode their bikes. We would go out multiple times a week to parks. I was so active with them. I would do yoga with them and guide them through it.

Now they know to leave me alone if my door is shut because I can’t handle talking to them at that moment, or I’ll puke, or I’ll pass out. They know that if I’m dizzy, and my head is down on the table, that they can’t approach me. They have to go to Dad. They know not to ask for things from me, and they just go to Mike, my husband, now a lot of the time for things. It’s changed my parenting style completely.

Shawn Buckley

Finally, my understanding is that you filed for the vaccine injury program. And this June, it’ll be a year. Has anything happened with that?

Drue Taylor

Oh, I just a couple days ago got an update. And they had said, “We’re in the medical board phase,” so phase two of three. So only half of the doctors have, they only have files and medical records from half of the doctors that I released them to get files from. And I have been in the medical board section, or phase two of this program for months now. And I figured, you know, I’d be moving along quicker than this.

Shawn Buckley

Thank you. Drue, I don’t have any further questions for you, but the commissioners may have some questions. And they do.

Commissioner Drysdale

First, I thank you for your testimony. Can you tell me whether or not you requested or gave permission for an AHS doctor, who you did not know, to examine your personal medical files?

Drue Taylor

I never did. I never gave permission.

Commissioner Drysdale

Thank you.

Commissioner Massie

Thank you very much for your testimony. So sad to see the situation you’re in. I’m wondering, given the really sad experience you had after the first vaccine, was there anyone around you that would give you what we might consider a second opinion to really make you consider that this was not a wise move?

Drue Taylor

No. Every single doctor that I talked with beyond, no, every doctor after that tilt test told me that I needed the vaccine, not just to take it.

[00:35:00]

My personal health care doctor, he was reluctant to tell me to take the vaccine. But he too simply said, “You know, your cardiologists and your specialists are telling you to take the vaccine. Let me know when you do.” There was not one doctor that looked at me or my file or talked to me and told me, “You know what, you had a reaction, and I think we need to do further investigating before you continue on to the second one.” Every single doctor that I spoke with told me I needed the second vaccine because of my blood clot past.

Commissioner Massie

Did you have the chance to provide some feedback to these doctors that advise you, or lecture you to get the second shot as to whether, given your current situation, they would revise their medical advice?

Drue Taylor

Honestly, I hope one day I get the opportunity to see, at least Dr. Gee, the cardiologist who handled the tilt test, or at least to let him know how I’m doing because I hold him accountable to a certain extent, absolutely. He could have told me I needed further investigation and to see an autonomic specialist. And instead, he told me to get the second vaccine, that I needed it, and to see a neurologist. And he dismissed me.

I think that all of the medical professionals on my case telling me to get the second vaccine, especially Dr. Gee and the cardiologist present and the nurse, and the AHS nurse and Dr. Song, they all need to see me now. They need to look at my records now, and see how much suffering I have gone through in the last amount of time. I feel I’m owed more than an apology from them. There needs to be a change, this was not okay.

Commissioner Massie

Can they look at you straight in your eyes?

Drue Taylor

I would like them to. I would certainly look them in the eye and tell them that this was not okay. And do you think that your advice to me was okay? I would like to ask them that.  Because I would not have gotten the second vaccine knowing what I know now. Absolutely not.

Commissioner Massie

Thank you.

Commissioner DiGregorio

Thank you so much for sharing with us today. You mentioned that you’re taking part in the vaccine injury compensation program and that you’re still in the middle of the process. How long have you been in the process?

Drue Taylor

June will have been a year.

Commissioner DiGregorio

Okay, and do you have any expectation of how long it will take for you to get some resolution in your case?

Drue Taylor

They originally told me the process would take anywhere from 12 to 16 or 18 months. Honestly, I forget if it was 16 or 18, but they did tell me it would take some time.

Commissioner DiGregorio

Okay, and what is your understanding of what type of compensation you will be available to get?

Drue Taylor

My understanding is that it’s on a case-by-case basis, and when it gets to that point, we’ll cross that bridge.

Commissioner DiGregorio

Thank you.

Shawn Buckley

Drue, the commissioners don’t have any further questions. On behalf of the National Citizens Inquiry, I sincerely thank you for being willing to come and share with us today.

Drue Taylor

You’re welcome. Thank you.

[00:38:42]

Final Review and Approval:  Anna Cairns, August 30, 2023.   

The evidence offered in this transcript is a true and faithful record of witness testimony given during the National Citizens Inquiry (NCI) hearings. The transcript was prepared by members of a team of volunteers using an “intelligent verbatim” transcription method.

For further information on the transcription process, method, and team, see the NCI website: https://nationalcitizensinquiry.ca/about-these-transcripts/

Summary

Prior to suffering injury from a COVID injection, Ms Taylor, 33, was a mother, yoga instructor and massage therapist who worked with both people and horses. Ms Taylor said that she trusted medicine; she had taken vaccines previously without adverse effects. She had a pre-existing condition that can increase the chance of developing blood clots and had previously needed medical attention for a blood clot in her lung. Because of this, she felt that the COVID vaccine could protect her. When she consulted her primary care doctor, he recommended vaccination because a COVID infection could cause blood clots. He warned against AstraZeneca, which had been implicated as a clotting risk, but recommended Moderna.

Within hours of Drue getting the first shot, she felt that her heart was beating out of her chest; she had dizziness and nausea. She went to emergency that night. She had an EKG which came back normal, but she showed signs of sinus tachycardia (elevated standing heartrate). Testing and blood work came back normal, so she was sent home with an order for a Holter monitor to be worn (the results were normal). Ms Taylor’s primary care physician told her she had experienced a vaccine reaction and advised her not to get a second dose.

Days later, a nurse from Alberta Health Services (AHS) called to tell her that an AHS doctor had come to the conclusion that her case was not an adverse reaction. Ms Taylor asked to speak to the doctor but was denied. AHS called again (twice) to urge her to get a second vaccine dose, contradicting her doctors, all of whom said to wait. In November she had her tilt test for suspected POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), but the cardiologist ruled it “inconclusive,” and told her he would not give her an exemption, urging her to get the second vaccine. He referred her to a neurologist for anxiety.

As Ms. Taylor still feared another blood clotting episode, she got a Pfizer shot on January 8, 2022. Within 24 hours her symptoms came back tenfold, “I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t do anything.” Her doctors now concede that she has POTS triggered by the COVID injections. She has been told there is no cure and that all they can do is to make her comfortable. She understands that about 70% of patients with POTS cannot return to work. Ms. Taylor filed an application with the Canadian vaccine injury program in June 2022. Her case is in progress; they are still collecting her medical files.