Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield. (Source: 1News)

Dr Ashley Bloomfield confirmed on Tuesday that the third death in New Zealand linked to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was a teenager.

The Ministry of Health announced the death on Monday night.

The ministry said the person had myocarditis when they died.

The heart condition – usually caused by a viral infection, including Covid-19 – is a rare side effect of the Pfizer vaccine, with around 30 cases per million vaccinations in New Zealand, according to Medsafe.

The Director-General of Health said on Tuesday the death was “very sad” and “quite sudden”.

Bloomfield said the person hadn’t shown any symptoms of the heart condition before they died.

He said the Covid-19 Vaccine Independent Safety Monitoring Board had worked with pathologists, the coroner, and the teen family to come to its conclusion.

The board concluded that the death was “most likely” vaccine-related, although it wasn’t absolutely certain, Bloomfield said.

“The family were very clear that they didn’t want this death … to in any way put people off from being vaccinated or to be used by groups to undermine vaccination efforts in New Zealand.”

The COVID-19 Vaccine Independent Safety Monitoring Board said on Monday the teen had received a dose of the Pfizer vaccine in the weeks before their death.

“The Board considers that the development of myocarditis was possibly due to vaccination with the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.”

The Board said the death reported on Monday is “the third death in New Zealand that is considered to be linked to vaccination with the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine”.

All three deaths are currently with the coroner to determine the cause of death, the board said.

516 people have died with Covid-19 in New Zealand since the pandemic began.