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Norway has registered a total of 29 deaths among people over 75 who have had their first vaccination with Covid-19, raising questions about the target groups in national vaccination programs.
The latter figure adds six to the number of known fatalities in Norway, and also lowers the age group believed to be affected from 80.
Until Friday, Pfizer / BioNTech was the only vaccine available in Norway, so “all deaths are linked to this vaccine,” the Norwegian Medicines Agency said in a written response to Bloomberg on Saturday.
“There have been 13 deaths that have been identified, and we are aware of an additional 16 deaths that are currently being assessed,” the agency said. All reported deaths were in “elderly people with serious basic disorders,” he said. “Most people have experienced the expected side effects of the vaccine, such as nausea and vomiting, fever, local injection site reactions and worsening of their underlying condition.”
Side effects
Norway’s experience has led the country to suggest that Covid-19 vaccines may be too risky for the very old and terminally ill, the most cautious statement to date from a European health authority as countries assess the real side effects of the first injections . approval.
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health finds that “for those with the most severe vulnerability, even relatively mild side effects from vaccines can have serious consequences. For those who have a very short remaining life anyway, the benefit of the vaccine may be marginal or irrelevant.”
Pfizer and BioNTech are working with the Norwegian regulator to investigate the deaths in Norway, Pfizer said in an emailed statement. The agency found that “the number of incidents so far is not alarming and in line with expectations,” Pfizer said.
“We are aware that deaths have also been reported in other countries, but we do not yet have full details on this,” said the Norwegian medicines agency. “There are also differences between countries in which vaccination is prioritized, and this may also affect reporting of adverse events, including death.”
“The Norwegian Medicines Agency has announced prior to vaccination that when vaccinating the oldest and sickest, deaths are expected to occur in a time-related context with vaccination. This does not mean that there is a causal link between vaccination and death. We have also conveyed, in relation to the reported deaths, that it is possible that common and known side effects of the vaccines could be a factor that contributed to a serious course or a fatal outcome, ”the agency said.
Norway’s recommendation does not mean that younger, healthier people should not be vaccinated. But it’s an early indication of what to look for when countries start publishing safety reports on the vaccines. Emer Cooke, the new head of the European Medicines Agency, has said that monitoring the safety of Covid vaccines, especially those that rely on new technologies such as messenger RNA, would be one of the biggest challenges once the shots hit large. scale are rolled out.