Until Friday, Norway had only used the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.
Photographer: Jean-Francois Monier / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Jean-Francois Monier / AFP / Getty Images
Health authorities in Norway say there is no evidence of a direct link between the recent death rate among elderly people vaccinated against Covid-19 and the vaccine they received.
The Norwegian Medicines Agency wants to address fears that taking the vaccine could be too risky for 33 people in the country elderly According to the latest figures from the agency, 75 and older died after vaccination. Everyone was already seriously ill.
“It is clear that Covid-19 is much more dangerous for most patients than vaccination,” Steinar Madsen, medical director at the Norwegian Medicines Agency, said by telephone on Monday. “We are not worried.”
What you need to know about vaccine-related deaths, allergies: QuickTake
The initial reports from Norway made international headlines as the world looked for early signs of possible side effects of the vaccines. Until Friday, Norway only used the vaccine used by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, and the companies are working closely with the Nordic country to investigate the deaths. The first Europe-wide safety report on the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine is due to be published by the end of January.
“All of these patients had serious underlying illnesses,” Madsen said. “We can not say that people die because of the vaccine. We can say that it may be coincidental. It is difficult to prove that it is the vaccine that is the direct cause. ”
What Bloomberg Intelligence says …
“The concept of limiting Covid-19 vaccinations to those under 75 is not supported by the US data, which vaccinated more than 14 million people, according to our analysis, despite the fact that Norway reported a much higher mortality rate after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was used. . The excessive deaths in Norway indicate that they are subject to serious, uncontrolled diseases. ”
– Sam Fazeli, senior industry analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
–Click here for the full report
Norway has given at least one dose to about 42,000 people, focusing on those who are at greatest risk if they contract the virus, including the elderly. Madsen says it is possible that the side effects of vaccination may, in some cases, turn patients into a more serious course of the underlying disease. We can not rule it out. He says Norway has vaccinated all the patients of old age homes, “more or less”, and the reported deaths form “far below 1 in 1,000”.
Madsen said he did not expect a different outcome with another vaccine, from Moderna Inc., which was introduced in Norway on Friday. Like the Pfizer BioNTech shot, it uses messenger RNA technology that teaches the body’s cells to fight infection.
The Norwegian Medicines Agency said it was made clear before the vaccination program began that ‘deaths are expected to be time-related in relation to vaccination’ for the “oldest and sickest” people receiving vaccinations.
– With help from Stephen Treloar and Naomi Kresge