Swissmedic approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on December 20 (Representative)
Geneva:
There is no indication that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 was responsible for the death of an elderly person in Switzerland within days of receiving the vaccine, Swiss authorities said Wednesday.
The Swissmedic regulatory authority and regional authorities in the central canton of Lucerne confirmed reports that a 91-year-old who was among the first to receive the vaccine in Switzerland last week had died.
But a Swissmedic spokesman insisted to AFP that the moment of death on Tuesday in a Lucerne nursing home, just five days after receiving the vaccine, “was a coincidence.”
“Investigations by the cantonal health authorities and Swissmedic have shown that based on the medical history and development of the disease, a connection between death and Covid-19 vaccination is highly unlikely,” Swissmedic said in a statement. .
The person who died already suffered from various illnesses, the agency said.
“Neither the medical history nor the acute course of the disease suggest a direct causal link between the Covid-19 vaccine and death,” he said.
“Pre-existing diseases” had been listed as the natural cause of death on the death certificate, he noted.
Swissmedic, which approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on December 20, emphasized that there have been no unknown side effects since vaccinations began in the country a week ago.
Millions of people have already received the vaccine in various countries and so far no deaths have been linked to strokes.
Pfizer and BioNTech said they were aware of the death and said “their thoughts are with the grieving family.”
The two companies also emphasized in a statement that “serious adverse events, including deaths that are not related to the vaccine, are likely to occur at a rate similar to that of the general elderly and at-risk population that are currently prioritized for vaccination “.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated channel.)
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