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COPENHAGEN, Jan.15 (Xinhua) – An adverse reaction to the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine may be responsible for up to 23 reported deaths among frail and elderly patients in nursing homes in Norway, said a press release from the Norwegian Agency for Medications (NoMA) on Friday.
The Comirnaty (Pfizer-BioNTech) studies included few participants older than 85 years and did not include patients with unstable or acute disease, according to NoMA.
“The evaluation suggests that common adverse reactions to mRNA vaccines, such as fever and nausea, may have contributed to a fatal outcome in some frail patients,” said Sigurd Hortemo, chief physician at NoMA.
Reports of suspected adverse reactions, including death, are received on a daily basis and are continuously evaluated by both the Norwegian Medicines Agency and the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), according to the press release.
As a result of 13 autopsies of the deceased performed for evaluation, the NIPH has updated the COVID-19 vaccination guidelines, providing more detailed advice on vaccinating the elderly who are frail.
“For those with the most severe frailty, however, even the relatively mild side effects of the vaccine can have serious consequences. For those who have a very short remaining life expectancy anyway, the benefit of the vaccine may be marginal or irrelevant, “said the updated NIPH guidelines.
“In Norwegian nursing homes, about 400 people die a week. All deaths that occur over time in connection with vaccination are carefully evaluated and there is no indication that the vaccine causes deaths,” said Steinar Madsen, director. NoMA doctor.
“Doctors must now carefully consider who should be vaccinated. Those who are very frail and at the end of life can be vaccinated after an individual evaluation,” Madsen added.
More than 25,000 Norwegians have been vaccinated against COVID-19 since December 27, 2020. Enditem
