Norway can fine-tune vaccine strategy after elderly mortality, says prime minister

Photographer: Ole Berg-Rusten / AFP / Getty Images

Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg says her country can fine-tune the vaccination of the oldest, sickest citizens as it tries to understand the recent wave of deaths.

After weathering the pandemic better than most, Norway suddenly made international headlines this month after revealing that more than 30 people – all over 70 and all already sick – died not long after being vaccinated against Covid-19. Solberg says the intense worldwide interest in the news was “exaggerated” as she tries to ensure that development does not deter people from vaccination.

“We don’t believe there is a problem with the safety of the vaccines,” Solberg said in an interview with Bloomberg Live that aired Tuesday. “But we may not give them to the most vulnerable elderly because that could speed up a process where they were what we would say at the end of life anyway,” so, “that’s probably not what we’ll continue to do. . “

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health, which has identified over-65s as a priority group for vaccine roll-out, has urged doctors to vaccinate the elderly and the sick on a case-by-case basis.

“For very vulnerable and terminally ill patients, a careful evaluation of the pros and cons of vaccination is recommended”, said on Jan. 11, before Norway released data on post-vaccination deaths.

Unnecessary care

The Norwegian Medicines Agency said its reporting of adverse events around the world was of needless concern, and will now only publish data on deaths following autopsy. The agency says its information on the side effects of Covid-19 vaccines will be included in international studies.

Other countries, including Germany, have also recorded deaths in people recently vaccinated. Finland reported three such fatalities on Tuesday, but none of the countries found causation.

The Norwegian Medicines Agency says there is so far no evidence that the reported deaths in the elderly were directly related to the vaccine. “However, it cannot be ruled out that common side effects of vaccines, such as fever and nausea, may have contributed to a serious course of the underlying disease in vulnerable patients,” the agency said in a written response to questions.

Norway now partners with Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE – the first manufacturers to provide it with vaccines – to investigate its data further. The country’s drug agency has told Pfizer it sees no cause for concern. The first European safety report on the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine will be published at the end of January.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian government has underlined its confidence in the vaccine. “We are trying to work very hard to get the focus that this is not a problem,” said Solberg. “It’s who we vaccinated, not the vaccine that created this data.”

The Norwegian Medicines Agency reported 292 suspected “side effects” of the 71,971 people vaccinated on January 21; of these, 104 had been assessed by health authorities, with 30 deaths reported. According to Bloomberg’s Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker, as of Friday, the country had inoculated 1.4% of the population. This is compared to 3.4% in neighboring Denmark, which is among the most advanced in Europe with its immunization program.

Norway plans to administer second vaccine doses without delay, Solberg said. That’s in contrast to the approach in the UK, where Health Minister Matt Hancock has said there is high confidence that the first dose will provide “decent efficacy” against the virus.

Solberg spoke to Bloomberg Live for Norway moved to seal the Oslo area in an effort to stop the spread of more contagious mutations of the coronavirus, with the strictest measures yet. The prime minister said she hopes Norway will finish vaccinating its most vulnerable citizens by March.

– With the help of Lars Erik Taraldsen and Naomi Kresge