- Norwegian health officials have changed their advice on who gets a COVID-19 vaccine after more than 25 elderly people with underlying health conditions died.
- According to the agency, ‘all deaths’ are linked to the Pfizer vaccine, which was the only one available in the country until Friday.
- However, Norwegian officials insist they are not worried and have advised individual doctors to decide who should receive a vaccine.
- Pfizer said they were investigating the deaths, but added that “the number of incidents so far is not alarming, and in line with expectations.”
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Norwegian health officials have warned that vaccinating the most debilitated elderly people with serious underlying health conditions could be dangerous after the country reported more than 25 deaths.
The Norwegian Medicines Agency reported for the first time on Thursday that 23 elderly people had died in a short time after receiving their first dose of Pfizer vaccine, 13 of whom may have suffered fatal side effects.
However, according to Bloomberg, the number of deaths has been updated from Sunday to 29 people.
According to the agency, ‘all deaths’ are linked to the Pfizer vaccine, which was the only one available in the country until Friday.
Officials cite fever, vomiting and nausea as side effects that could “lead to the death of some debilitated patients”, said Sigurd Hortemo of the Norwegian Medicines Agency, Bloomberg reported.
Read more: What comes next for COVID-19 vaccines? Here’s the latest on 11 leading programs.
The latest deaths, all of which occurred among patients in nursing homes, prompted officials to adjust their advice on who gets the COVID-19 vaccine, leaving it to individual doctors to decide who should be vaccinated.
The country also warned that other countries should keep an eye on their elderly vaccine recipients in the most cautious statement from a European health authority to date.
However, Norwegian officials maintain that they are not scared and that allergic reactions to vaccines are still very rare.
“We are not worried about this. It is clear that these vaccines have very little risk, with a small exception for the most fragile patients,” Steinar Madsen, medical director of the agency, told ABC News.
“Doctors must now carefully consider who should be vaccinated. Those who are very weakened and at the very end of their lives can be vaccinated after an individual examination,” he added.
Pfizer and BioNTech said they were working with health officials to investigate the deaths, but added that “the number of incidents so far is not alarming, and in line with expectations,” according to Bloomberg.
Insider also asked Pfizer for comment, but did not hear from him during the publication.
According to a Johns Hopkins University tracker, more than 58,000 Norwegians have been infected since the start of the pandemic, but only 517 have died.
The European Medicines Agency said on Friday that it would consider requesting monthly safety reports from companies authorized to sell vaccines, starting in January with the Pfizer sting.