Until Friday, Norway had only used the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Photographer: Jean-Francois Monier / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Jean-Francois Monier / AFP / Getty Images
Norwegian health authorities say there is no evidence of a direct link between the recent series of deaths among the elderly inoculated against Covid-19 and the vaccine they received.
Norwegian Medicines Agency tries to address fears that vaccine administration could be too risky after 33 people in the country decrepit 75 years and over died from immunization, according to the latest figures from the agency. They were all already seriously ill, it was said.
“Obviously, Covid-19 is much more dangerous for most patients than vaccination,” Steinar Madsen, the medical director of the Norwegian Medicines Agency, said by telephone on Monday. “We are not alarmed.”
What you need to know about vaccine-related deaths, allergies: QuickTake
Initial reports from Norway have made international headlines, as the world is looking for early signs of possible side effects from vaccines. Until Friday, Norway used only the vaccine provided by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, and companies are now working with the Nordic country to analyze deaths. The first European safety report on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is due to be published at the end of January.
“All of these patients have had serious underlying illnesses,” Madsen said. “We cannot say that people die because of the vaccine. We can say that it may be accidental. It is difficult to prove that the vaccine is the direct cause. ”
What Bloomberg Intelligence says …
“The concept of limiting Covid-19 vaccinations to those under the age of 75 is not supported by US data covering more than 14 million inoculated people,” says our analysis, despite Norway reporting a much higher mortality rate. after use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Excessive deaths in Norway suggest that they are in subjects with serious, uncontrolled illness. ”
– Sam Fazeli, senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
–Click here for the full report
Norway administered at least one dose to about 42,000 people, focusing on those considered to be most at risk if they contracted the virus, including the elderly. Madsen says it is possible that the side effects of immunization may, in some cases, “tilt patients into a more severe course of the underlying disease. We cannot rule this out. ” He says Norway has already vaccinated all patients in nursing homes, “more or less”, and the reported deaths are “well below 1 in 1,000”.
Madsen said he did not expect a different result with another vaccine from Moderna Inc., which was introduced in Norway on Friday. Like the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, it uses RNA messenger technology that teaches the body’s cells to fight infections.
The Norwegian Medicines Agency said that before the start of the vaccination program, it stated that “deaths are expected to occur in a time-related context with vaccination” for “older and sicker” people receiving inoculation.
– With the assistance of Stephen Treloar and Naomi Kresge