CHERBOURG, QUEENSLAND – A well-known indigenous leader from Australia’s aboriginal community has died 6 days after receiving his second Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Bevan Costello got his second shot on September 9th in an event to promote COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among indigenous people. The ‘Elder’ died just 6 days later on Wednesday, September 15th after a sudden heart attack. His death has sent shockwaves through his community.

Costello, who is an elder of the Cherbourg Aboriginal community in Queensland, participated in a special event on September 9th of Elders and teens from Queensland’s Indigenous communities to push back against COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy:

He was interviewed by Australia’s ABC NEWS after his second shot:

“I feel more confident now that I’m fully vaccinated and that if I come into contact with COVID I should be OK because I’m a diabetic. A lot of my people have been hesitant because of a misunderstanding of information, mostly on social media.”

His sudden death on Wednesday, September 15th, just 6 days after the event, has created even more hesitancy among Australia’s indigenous people to get vaccinated. The South Burnett and Cherbourg indigenous communities were shocked upon hearing the tragic news. A community member said:

“I know that he will be remembered with absolute fondness by so many people in Queensland—not only in Cherbourg, Murgon, and the South Burnett district but across the wider Indigenous community in Queensland.”

The Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council posted this on Facebook: