Norway said on Monday that no link had been established between Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and any post-vaccination deaths in the country, but the recommended doctors take into account the general health of the most vulnerable before administering the vaccine. Since the start of Norway’s vaccination campaign in late December, the country has seen 33 deaths among the elderly who received the first dose, according to public health authorities.
“Reports suggest that common side effects with mRNA vaccines, such as fever and nausea, could have contributed to the worsening of their underlying diseases and a fatal outcome in some frail patients,” the Norwegian Medicines Agency told Steve Berriman. from CBS News. Patients died from their underlying disease.
Of the 13 cases analyzed in detail so far, “they are elderly, fragile and have serious illnesses, all of them,” the director of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Camilla Stoltenberg, told reporters. “When it comes to cases, no analysis has been done yet,” she said.
“It is important to remember that, on average, about 45 people die every day in nursing homes in Norway, so it is not specified that this is an excess of mortality or that they are related to vaccines,” he said. she.
Following reports of deaths, Norway stressed that doctors should consider individually whether patients who are frail or terminally ill should receive the vaccine, as recommended in other countries.
“It is not impossible for some of those who received the vaccine to be so fragile that perhaps they should have reconsidered and not given the vaccine because they are so ill that it could have worsened due to side effects. normal as the body reacts and increases immunity, “Stoltenberg said.
A number of countries, including neighboring Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Iceland, have reported deaths after vaccination, but no direct links to the vaccine have been established.
Pfizer and BioNTech told CBS News on Monday that it was “working with the Norwegian Medicines Agency to gather all relevant information.”
They noted that Norway’s vaccination campaign had started with elderly people living in nursing homes, “most of whom are very elderly with underlying medical conditions and some of whom are terminally ill”.
“Our immediate thoughts are with the grieving families,” Pfizer said.
Up to 48,000 people have been vaccinated in Norway so far.