After a striking headline circulated over the weekend – that 23 patients in Norway died after being shot with Covid-19 – The street contacted the Norwegian Medicines Agency to find out more about what happened.
Norwegian health officials say they have now revised guidelines on who should get Covid-19 photos taken by Pfizer (FE) – Get the report and BioNTech (BNTX) – Get the report, after 23 deaths among frail and elderly people, were thought to be “associated” with recent vaccinations against Covid-19. More than half of those who died, 13, were evaluated. The Agency believes that these deaths could be related to the common side effects of the vaccine, known as BNT162b2.
A Pfizer spokesman said the company and its partner, BioNTech, were “aware” of the deaths and were working with the Norwegian agency to gather the necessary information. “Pfizer’s immediate thoughts are with grieving families,” said Jerica Pitts, Pfizer’s director of global media relations, in an e-mail to The street Sunday. But Pitts stressed that the number of incidents so far is not alarming and expected, according to Norwegian health officials.
From that perspective, 42,003 people received the first dose of vaccine in Norway since Friday, so deaths make up a small part of the total vaccinated. Norway, with a population of just over 5 million, also has less than 58,600 known cases of Covid-19 and less than 517 deaths from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins. Only this ratio seems much worse than that of vaccines compared to potentially vaccine-related deaths.
However, reports of deaths “suggest” that common side effects with the messenger RNA vaccine could have contributed to a fatal outcome in some frail patients, say Norwegian health officials.
There is a slightly edited exchange between The street and the Norwegian Medicines Agency on deaths, which occurred after the first dose of vaccine, which began to be distributed in Norway on 27 December.
The street: Why did the agency publish this ad?
Norwegian Medicines Agency: The Norwegian Register of Adverse Drug Reactions is a national health register, which is required to report public statistics. At the highest political level, the public has been promised full transparency of the reported ADRs for Covid-19 vaccines. … In Norway, we have a “reporting culture” for vaccine ADRs, where the normal procedure is to report all suspected adverse reactions to new vaccines. Healthcare professionals in Norway have a low threshold for reporting possible side effects, even when the causal relationship seems very unclear.
The street: You seem to think that these deaths were probably related to the frequent side effects of the shootings. Could you develop that? Are there any side effects that you find most worrying?
Norwegian Medicines Agency: For reasons of confidentiality, we cannot provide detailed information on this, but … all reports refer to the elderly with severe underlying disorders. Most of them had the expected side effects of the vaccine, such as nausea, vomiting, fever and local reactions at the injection site.
All deaths that occur in the first few days of vaccination are carefully assessed. We cannot rule out that adverse reactions to the vaccine that occur in the first days after vaccination may contribute to more severe and fatal outcome in patients with severe underlying disease.
The street: How old were those who died after being shot?
Norwegian Medicines Agency: All deaths fall into the age group of 75 years or more.
The street: Do these deaths make you wonder how the vaccine is given to that population of sick elderly people?
Norwegian Medicines Agency: The Norwegian Medicines Agency approves the vaccine, but the National Institute of Public Health is responsible for distribution. The Norwegian Medicines Agency and the National Institute of Public Health jointly evaluate all reports of suspected adverse reactions. As a result, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health has updated the Covid-19 vaccination guide with more detailed advice on vaccinating elderly people who are vulnerable.
We are now asking doctors to continue vaccination, but to carry out an additional assessment of very sick people whose basic condition could be aggravated by it. This assessment includes discussing the risks and benefits of vaccination with the patient and their families to decide whether or not vaccination is the best way.