Norwegian officials confirmed the death of 23 people in the nation after they received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
Norwegian officials confirmed the death of 23 people in the country in a short span of time right after they received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. A European health authority said in a statement that the COVID-19 vaccine may be too risky for the "very old" and "terminally ill." The officials said that 13 of the total deaths that have been autopsied showed the result of common side effects of the vaccine that may have caused severe reactions in the weak and elderly people, according to the Norwegian Medicines Agency.
They further added "For those with the most severe frailty, even relatively mild vaccine side effects can have serious consequences," the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said. "For those who have a very short remaining life span anyway, the benefit of the vaccine may be marginal or irrelevant." The health agency also said that the recommendation did not include young and healthy people that are to be vaccinated.
After the deaths were reported, Pfizer and BioNTech have started working in collaboration with the Norwegian regulator so as to investigate the deaths, Pfizer said in an e-mailed statement. The agency found that "the number of incidents so far is not alarming, and in line with expectations," Pfizer added. Norway has inoculated 33,000 people so far with at least the first dose of the vaccine.
Of the total 29 people who died, three-fourth were more than 80 years of age. However, allergic reactions have been rare so far. In the U.S, 1.9 million people were inoculated with the first dose of the vaccine, out of which 21 cases were reported of severe allergic reactions from December 14 to December 23. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is an incidence of 11.1 cases per million doses.
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