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PRINCIPAL: Camilla Stoltenberg directs the National Institute of Public Health. Photo: Helge Mikalsen
People 65 and older and people without risk will not get the AstraZeneca vaccine now, confirms the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH). This means that some older people have to wait longer to get the vaccine.
– It’s not because the vaccine doesn’t work in older people, but because the documentation is very limited, says Stoltenberg, says FHI Director Camilla Stoltenberg during a press conference Thursday morning.
The AztraZeneca vaccine has been little tested in people over 65 years of age. This means that several countries have not wanted to vaccinate the elderly with this vaccine.
Read all about vaccines and approval. in the special VG vaccine
In Norway, the vaccine will only be given to people under 65, but not to people in risk groups.
– Those who will not be included under the age of 65 are those with diseases with a particularly high risk of a severe course of covid-19, where we will use mRNA vaccines, says Stoltenberg.
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are mRNA vaccines.
Degree of protection uncertain
Sara Watle, FHI’s chief physician, says the degree of protection for people over 65 is uncertain, and there was no study data on the effect for people over 55.
– That said, it doesn’t mean the vaccine doesn’t have an effect on people over 55, but when there are so few in the study, it’s hard to salvage the effect. But participants over 55 have the same immune response as people over 55, so we assume the protection is similar, says Watle.
FHI has recently considered whether the vaccine should be recommended for use by people over the age of 65. The EU Medicines Agency has approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for all adults, but it is FHI that sets the guidelines for how the vaccine should be used in Norway.
Less dose
Earlier this week, Geir Bukholm, director of infection control, confirmed to VG that the AstraZeneca vaccine was about to be approved for people under 65.
Bukholm said then that the consequence could be that someone in the 65 to 75 age group receives the vaccine a few weeks later than planned.
What has been questioned is the good effect the vaccine will have on the elderly, not whether it has more side effects on the elderly. As a general rule, the elderly have weaker side effects if there is a difference between age groups, because they have a weaker immune response.
AstraZeneca’s first dose delivery will be around 200,000 in February. This is a drastic reduction from 1.12 million doses of AstraZeneca originally planned.
