Norway: Fatalities after Pfizer's COVID-19 shots among elderly people rise to 29

The number of elderly people who died shortly after receiving the first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in Norway has risen to 29, Bloomberg reported. The latest figures add six to the number of known fatalities in the Scandinavian country and lower the age group thought to be affected to 75 from 80. It is worth noting that until Friday, the vaccine produce by Pfizer-BioNTech was the only one available in Norway and the officials had given the first dose to nearly 42,000 people. 

The Norwegian Medicines Agency told Bloomberg that all deaths are "linked to the vaccine". The agency said that 13 deaths have been assessed and the officials are aware of another 16 that currently being assessed. All the reported deaths are related to "elderly people with serious basic disorders". The agency further informed that most people have experienced and expected side effects of the vaccine, such as nausea and vomiting, fever and local reactions at the injection site, and worsening of their underlying conditions. Pfizer and BioNTech are working with the Norwegian authorities to investigate the deaths. Acting upon this, the Norwegian officials have adjusted their advice on who gets the COVID-19 vaccine, leaving it up to each doctor to consider who should be vaccinated. 

"We are not alarmed by this. It is quite clear that these vaccines have very little risk, with a small exception for the frailest patients," Steinar Madsen, medical director with the agency, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. "Doctors must now carefully consider who should be vaccinated. Those who are very frail and at the very end of life can be vaccinated after an individual assessment," he added.

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Australia says ‘safety is number one priority’ 

Meanwhile, following the Norwegian report, Australia, which has an agreement for 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, is seeking urgent information on the issue from the producer. Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt on Sunday said that there was no change to the government’s vaccine rollout plans, however, he added that "safety is Australia’s number one priority". Hunt also vowed to update the public on any details from Norway, where authorities said that could not rule out adverse reactions contributing to deaths in patients with severe underlying disease. 

In a televised interview with TGA, Hunt said, “Australians should have confidence that we are being absolutely thorough and have a cautious but highly focused medical regulator who is taking into account all of the evidence from around the world”.

“We’re proceeding with an abundance of caution. So there’s no change in our timeframes at this point. But the medical regulator is completely empowered, completely empowered, to make independent decisions,” he added.

(With inputs from AP) 

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