Australian authorities will examine reports of potentially adverse reactions to the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in Norway, but the Health Minister said it was still unclear whether several reported deaths were related to old age rather than punctures.
Greg Hunt said on Sunday that there were no changes to the government’s vaccine deployment plans and “safety is Australia’s number one priority”.
He promised to update the public on any details of Norway, where authorities said they could not rule out adverse reactions that contribute to death in patients with severe underlying disease.
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has updated its advice on vaccinating frail older people.
Hunt said Australians should have confidence “that we are being absolutely thorough” and have “a prudent but highly focused medical regulator who takes into account all the tests around the world”.
Although the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration has not yet approved the Pfizer vaccine, the government recently indicated that this process should be completed by the end of January, paving the way for vaccinations to begin by the end of January. February.
Hunt said he had spoken to the TGA on Sunday morning and asked him to request additional information from both Pfizer and Norwegian regulators.
“We don’t know yet if this is simply a function of age and people who are older and sadly facing the natural loss of their lives or if there is any cause that has not been stated so far,” he said. Hunt.
“We are proceeding with great caution. Therefore, there are no changes in our deadlines at this time. But the medical regulator is fully empowered, fully authorized, to make independent decisions. “
Hunt also noted “an encouraging report” from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that had reviewed a dose of 1.8 million Pfizer vaccines “with very positive results in terms of both safety and efficacy.”
The vaccine adverse event reporting system in the United States detected only 21 cases of anaphylaxis after administering 1,893,360 first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to the CDC report, with a 71 % of these in 15 minutes.
No anaphylaxis deaths were reported after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to the report.
“We were absolutely clear and kept absolutely clear that safety is Australia’s number one priority,” Hunt said.
“Therefore, we will continue to follow the processes of the medical regulator because this will maintain the safety of Australians and ultimately provide confidence.”
Norwegian authorities have estimated that 13 deaths were potentially associated with vaccination against Covid-19.
Sigurd Hortemo, chief physician at the Norwegian Medicines Agency, said reports suggest that “some common adverse reactions to mRNA vaccines, such as fever and nausea, may have contributed to a fatal outcome in some patients. fragile “.
But authorities also provided context for these reports, saying that large studies on the BioNTec / Pfizer vaccine had not included patients with unstable or acute disease, and included few participants over 85 years of age.
“In Norway, we now vaccinate elderly people and people in nursing homes with serious underlying illnesses, so it is expected that deaths near the time of vaccination may occur,” authorities said on Friday.
“In Norway, an average of 400 people die every week in long-term residences and care centers.
“We cannot rule out that adverse reactions to the vaccine that occur in the first days after vaccination (such as fever and nausea) may contribute to a more severe course and a fatal outcome in patients with severe underlying disease.”
Hunt said that while there was no change in deployment plans, the government would listen to advice on particular groups.
“So it’s very feasible, for example, that a medical regulator or our TGA can choose whether or not a vaccine is applied to certain age groups to people with certain immune conditions. That’s something they do routinely.” .
Australia’s vaccination strategy is to start with high-priority groups, including front-line workers in the health sector, border enforcement, hotel quarantine, care for the elderly and the disabled. , and residents of the elderly and the disabled.