Norway stressed on Monday that there was no established link between the Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and vaccine deaths in the kingdom, while recommending a medical evaluation before vaccinating the elderly. and very fragile.
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Since the start of the vaccination campaign in late December, the Scandinavian country has recorded 33 deaths of elderly people who received a first dose, according to the latest tally from the authorities.
Among the 13 cases studied more closely so far, “these are all people who were very old, fragile and had serious illnesses”, underlined the director of the Norwegian public health authority, Camilla Stoltenberg, at the meeting. ‘a press conference.
“Regarding the cause of death there was no analysis,” she also said. “The most important thing is to remember that there are 45 people who die every day in nursing homes in Norway. So it has not been established that there is excess mortality or that this is linked to vaccines, ”said the health official.
However, after the death report, Norway has reiterated in recent days its recommendation for a medical evaluation before the vaccine is administered to a very fragile or dying person, as is already the case in other countries. .
“It is not impossible that some of those who are offered vaccination are so fragile (…) that it is not worth the trouble to vaccinate them because they can potentially see their condition deteriorate because of the effects normal secondary, ”stressed Stoltenberg on Monday.
The Norwegian drug authority raised concerns late last week when it said that usual side effects of messenger RNA vaccines, such as fever and nausea, may “have contributed to a fatal outcome in some fragile patients” in the country.
Several countries have reported post-vaccination deaths but health authorities believe that no link can be made with the vaccine.
Pfizer and BioNTech told AFP on Monday “to work with the Norwegian drug agency to gather all the relevant information”, recalling that the Norwegian vaccination campaign started with the elderly living in medical establishments.
“Most of them are very old with illnesses and some are terminally ill,” Pfizer said.
According to the latest tally available, more than 48,000 people have been vaccinated in Norway, out of a population of 5.4 million.