The Norwegian Medicines Agency on Monday commented on the death of 23 people inoculated with Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccines by saying that elderly and frail patients should carefully consider the risk-benefit ratio before vaccination
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2021) The Norwegian Medicines Agency on Monday commented on the death of 23 people inoculated with Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccines by saying that elderly and frail patients should carefully consider the risk-benefit ratio before vaccination.
According to the agency, 23 reports of suspected deaths associated with COVID-19 vaccines were received as of January 14 and several more continue to be submitted every day.
"The Norwegian Medicines Agency and the National Institute of Public Health jointly assess all reports of suspected adverse reactions. Consequently, the Norwegian Institute of Public health has emphasised its advice regarding frail or terminally ill patients. An evaluation should be carried for each individual patient as to whether the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of eventual side effects," the agency said in a press release.
Pointing out that the Pfizer vaccine's clinical trials did not include participants with serious health conditions and included only a few participants aged above 85, the agency said Norway's vaccination campaign so far covered "the elderly and people in nursing homes with serious underlying diseases."
"Therefore it is expected that deaths close to the time vaccination may occur," the agency said, adding "We cannot rule out that adverse reactions to the vaccine occurring within the first days following vaccination (such as fever and nausea) may contribute to more serious course and fatal outcome in patients with severe underlying disease."
The agency also noted that the average weekly death toll in Norwegian nursing homes and long-term care facilities was 400 people.
Norway's mass vaccination campaign with the Pfizer vaccine began on December 27. With the first tier including seniors at care facilities in Oslo, more than 25,000 people were already vaccinated as of Monday.
