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After a headline circulated over the weekend – that 23 patients in Norway died after being injected with Covid-19 – The street contacted the Norwegian Medicines Agency for more details on what happened.
Norwegian health officials say they have now revised guidelines on who should receive Covid-19 injections made by Pfizer (PFE) – Get the report and BioNTech (BNTX) – Get the report, after 23 deaths among frail and elderly people, it is believed that they are “associated” with recent vaccinations against Covid-19. More than half of those who died, 13, have been assessed. The agency believes these deaths could be linked to common side effects of the vaccine, known as BNT162b2.
A spokesperson for Pfizer said the company and its partner, BioNTech, are “aware” of the deaths and are working with the Norwegian agency to collect the necessary information. “Pfizer’s immediate thoughts are with the bereaved families,” said Jerica Pitts, director of global media relations at Pfizer, in an email to The street on Sunday. But Pitts stressed that the number of incidents so far is not alarming and to be expected, according to Norwegian health officials.
As a prospect, 42,003 people received the first dose of the vaccine in Norway on Friday, so deaths represent only a tiny fraction of the total vaccinated. In addition, Norway, which has a population of just over 5 million, has fewer than 58,600 known cases of Covid-19 and fewer than 517 deaths attributed to the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins. This ratio alone appears to be much worse than that of vaccinated versus potentially vaccine-related deaths.
Still, death reports “suggest” that common adverse reactions to the messenger RNA vaccine may have contributed to a fatal outcome in some fragile patients, according to Norwegian health officials.
Here is a lightly edited exchange between The street and the Norwegian Medicines Agency on deaths after the first dose of the vaccine, which began distribution in Norway on December 27.
The street: Why did the agency publish this notice?
Norwegian Medicines Agency: The Norwegian Adverse Drug Reaction Registry is a national health registry, obliged to release statistics to the public. At the highest political level, the public has been promised full transparency on the reported side effects of Covid-19 vaccines. … In Norway we have a ‘reporting culture’ for vaccine adverse reactions, where the normal procedure is to report all suspected adverse reactions for new vaccines. Healthcare professionals in Norway have a low threshold for reporting possible side effects, even when cause and effect relationships seem very unclear.
The street: It seems you thought these deaths were probably related to the common unwanted side effects of the injections. Could you expand on that? Is there a side effect that you find most worrying about?
Norwegian Medicines Agency: For reasons of confidentiality, we cannot provide detailed information on this matter, but … all reports relate to elderly people with serious underlying disorders. Most of them had the expected side effects of the vaccine, such as nausea, vomiting, fever and local reactions at the injection site.
All deaths occurring in the first days after vaccination are carefully assessed. We cannot exclude that adverse vaccine reactions occurring in the first days after vaccination may contribute to a more severe course and fatal outcome in patients with severe underlying disease.
The street: How old were those who died after being vaccinated?
Norwegian Medicines Agency: All deaths belong to the age group of 75 years or older.
The street: Do these deaths make you wonder how the vaccine is administered to this population of sick elderly people?
Norwegian Medicines Agency: The Norwegian Medicines Agency approves the vaccine, but the National Institute of Public Health is responsible for distribution. The Norwegian Medicines Agency and the National Institute of Public Health jointly assess all reports of suspected adverse reactions. As a result, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health has updated the Covid-19 vaccination guide with more detailed advice on vaccinating frail elderly people.
We are now asking doctors to continue with the vaccination, but to conduct further evaluation of very ill people whose underlying condition could be made worse by it. This assessment includes discussing the risks and benefits of vaccination with the patient and their family to decide whether vaccination is the best solution.
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