Witness Testimony

Joelle Valliere, a licensed funeral director and embalmer with approximately 15 years of experience, testified that she received a first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in April 2021 for occupational and family protection. Within days she experienced leg swelling, followed by progressive fatigue, vomiting, edema, and severe hypertension. She was hospitalized and later diagnosed with dense deposit disease after a kidney biopsy, with kidney function declining to nine percent. She underwent immune-suppressant therapy and multiple surgical procedures, including hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis over several months. Her kidney function later partially recovered to approximately 21 percent, though she remains at risk of future transplant eligibility.
She testified that she was initially ineligible for placement on a kidney transplant list because she had not received a second vaccine dose, despite medical agreement that her kidney failure was likely vaccine-related. She submitted a claim to the federal Vaccine Injury Support Program in September 2021 but reported no resolution at the time of testimony. She also described emotional distress during her illness, including discussions with her husband about medical assistance in dying due to the severity of her condition and uncertainty about recovery.
In her professional capacity as an embalmer, Ms. Valliere testified that following the vaccine rollout she observed changes during embalming procedures that she had not encountered previously in her career. She described unusually thick, sludgy blood drainage and fibrous, rubbery clots that she referred to as “calamari-like,” which complicated arterial and venous fluid distribution and increased procedure time. She stated that these phenomena were not present in her experience prior to the vaccine rollout.