General Colin Powell († 84) died on Monday of the consequences of Covid-19. Powell, the first dark-heaped Secretary of State in the United States, was fully vaccinated. But according to CNN, he suffered from multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. The disease affected his immune response to the vaccine and made it difficult to fight the virus.
Colin Powell’s family wrote on Facebook: “He was fully vaccinated.” And further: “We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American.” Then the family thanks the hospital staff for the treatment.
Because of illness, he did not respond to vaccination
According to CNN, his illness has massively affected the effectiveness of the vaccine. Although the Covid-19 vaccines offer strong protection against serious illness and death in healthy people, patients with multiple myeloma belong to the immunocompromised groups.
A study published in July showed that only 45 percent of patients with multiple myeloma responded properly to the vaccine, while 22 percent responded only partially. A third of those vaccinated with the disease did not respond at all.
George W. Bush thanks Powell
Powell, a son of Jamaican immigrants from New York, became the first black US Secretary of State in 2001 under then-President George W. Bush (75). The ex-president and his wife Laura Bush (74) praised Powell’s work for the country, “beginning with his time as a soldier in Vietnam”. (euc)