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Norwegian officials warned on Thursday that people over 80 and the terminally ill could be at risk of deadly side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine after the European country’s health agency reported a series of deaths among the elderly who received the inoculation.
The Norwegian Medicines Agency announced in A press release that on Thursday, the Norwegian health registry received reports of 23 people who died shortly after receiving their first dose of the vaccine.
Of these deaths, 13 were autopsied and found that common side effects associated with the vaccine may have contributed to more serious reactions in frail elderly people.
The health agency said all of the deaths occurred in patients in nursing homes who were well over 80 years old.
Sigurd Hortemo, chief medical officer of the Norwegian Medicines Agency, said side effects such as fever and nausea “may have contributed to a fatal outcome in some fragile patients.. ”
However, the agency also noted that in the country’s vaccination campaign for the elderly, many of whom are in nursing homes with serious underlying conditions, “deaths are expected to be near the time of vaccination. ”
According to the agency, an average of 400 Norwegians die each week in retirement homes and long-term care facilities.
“For the most frail people, even relatively mild side effects can have serious consequences,” the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said, according to Bloomberg. “For those who have a very short remaining lifespan anyway, the benefits of the vaccine may be marginal or irrelevant.”
Norway’s warning about the vaccine’s effects on the elderly is the most serious yet.
Countries around the world have started implementing mass vaccination campaigns to fight COVID-19, which has infected more than 93 million people worldwide and killed nearly 2 million people worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Last week the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccinations are relatively rare. The CDC said that of the nearly 2 million people vaccinated against COVID-19 during a 10-day period in December, only 21 people had serious allergic reactions.
The agency added that most of those people had a history of allergies or allergic reactions and that for the 20 people the CDC followed with, all had recovered and been sent home.
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