Covid-19 Vaccine deaths, allergic reactions: How many died in Norway?

Photographer: Nathan Laine / Bloomberg

As with all new drugs, the vaccines authorized to protect against Covid-19 have safety problems and side effects. Many people who received the first two Western shots, one of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, and another of Moderna Inc., experienced fever, headache, and pain at the injection site. These side effects generally go away quickly. More worrying, Norway deaths reported among the elderly with severe underlying health conditions following administration of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine – possibly linked to the side effects. A few other recipients of the various jabs had a severe, but treatable, allergic reaction, called anaphylaxis.

1. What is known about the deaths?

Twenty-nine were reported in mid-January among about 40,000 people who received the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine in Norway, where authorities prioritized vaccinating residents of nursing homes. Those who died were all in the “75 years +” category (exact ages were not given for privacy reasons) and included terminally ill patients who were expected to have only weeks or months to live. All deaths that occur within a few days after vaccination are carefully assessed. Those who are close to the time of vaccination are not necessarily because of the shot: an average of According to the Norwegian Medicines Agency, 400 people die every week in nursing homes and long-term care institutions. Sigurd Hortemo, the agency’s chief physician, said he could not rule out that general adverse reactions to the vaccine, such as fever and nausea, could be potentially life-threatening in patients with serious underlying health problems.

2. Were there deaths elsewhere?

In Germany, where more than 800,000 people received their first dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, the Paul Ehrlich Institute investigated at least seven cases of elderly people who died shortly after vaccination. His report states that the deaths were probably due to the patients underlying diseases, including carcinoma, kidney deficiency and Alzheimer’s, not the vaccination.

3. What reactions did these fatal cases develop?

The deaths in Norway have been associated with fever, nausea and diarrhea – relatively common, transient effects that some people may experience after almost any vaccination, according to information transmitted by the Australian Therapeutic Administration. (It works with the European Medicines Agency, which includes Norway, before deciding whether to approve the drug in Australia.) The reactions are not expected to be of much importance to most people. Millions of doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been administered the US, UK and some other countries with Abrar Chughtai, a lecturer at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of New South Wales, did not report any deaths.

4. What is known about the risks of the vaccine in older, debilitated people?

Not much. It is possible that younger patients may have common side effects on vaccines that are not dangerous exacerbates the underlying disease in the elderly, Steinar Madsen, the medical director of the Norwegian agency, told the BMJ medical journal. Only a limited number of people over the age of 85 participated in major clinical trials of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the agency said. The average participant in the two approved Western vaccines was in his early 50s.

5. What is done in response to the deaths?

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has updated its vaccination guide for Covid-19 with more detailed advice on vaccinating elderly people who are debilitated. “We are now asking doctors to continue with the vaccination, but to do extra evaluation of very sick people whose underlying condition may be exacerbated by it,” Madsen said. The evaluation includes discussing the risks and benefits of vaccination with patients and their families to decide whether or not immunization is prudent. Separately, the Nordic neighboring country Finland recommended against systematic vaccinations of terminally ill patients whose active treatment (in other words those who have been bleached) has been discontinued. The reason is that common side effects such as temporary fever can worsen their condition.

6. What other serious reactions were there?

The body fights foreign invaders through a variety of mechanisms that include making protective proteins called antibodies, releasing toxins that kill microbes, and protective cells to fight the infection. As in any conflict, trying to ward off an infection can sometimes be harmful. In rare cases, it can cause noticeable inflammation and swelling of tissues in a severe allergic reaction anaphylaxis. As much as 5% of the American population reacted in this way to various substances. It can be fatal if the person’s airway swells, for example, although deaths are Rare. Allergies to insect stings and food can provoke it, although drug reactions most common cause of anaphylaxis deaths in US and UK

7. Where did Covid-19 vaccines cause cases?

According to a January 6 report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21 cases of anaphylaxis related to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were confirmed in the country on 23 December. Of these, 17 had a documented history of allergies, and seven had a history of anaphylaxis. A December 19 a submission from the CDC refers to two cases in the UK related to the same vaccine, and later in the month, a man in Israel suffered an anaphylactic shock an hour after receiving it. according to the Jerusalem Post. He said he had had reactions to penicillin earlier, the newspaper reported. CDC officials say they have also seen the reactions from recipients of the Moderna survey and are compiling data on it.

8. Have anaphylaxis been associated with vaccines before?