Swiss medical authorities have dismissed rumors about the BioNTech-Pfizer coronavirus vaccine causing the death of an elderly patient.
The death of the 91-year-old boy in the central canton of Lucerne was widely reported in Switzerland. The Swiss therapeutic products agency, Swissmedic, confirmed the incident on Monday, but said the patient was already suffering from multiple illnesses.
“The clarifications from the cantonal health authorities and Swissmedic determined that, as a result of the history of the disease and the course of the disease, it was very unlikely that there was a link between death and the COVID-19 vaccine,” he said. say in a statement.
“Neither the clinical history nor the acute course of the disease suggests a direct causal link between the COVID-19 vaccine and death,” he said.
The regulator said the death certificate would list the above illnesses as the person’s “natural cause of death”.
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Vaccines against COVID are starting all over Europe
Millions of initial doses are produced
From Sweden to Cyprus, Lithuania to Italy, the push is now being made to get people to have their first shots fired, eleven months after the first cases were reported in Europe. EU leaders have dubbed the launch of the unit as “Day V”, a moment of unity in a pandemic that has killed more than 1.7 million people worldwide.
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Vaccines against COVID are starting all over Europe
The elderly population is a priority
Edith Kwoizalla, 101, was one of the first vaccinated Germans. He took the first of two doses at a care home in East Saxony-Anhalt on Saturday, a day before the official launch. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said he expected to administer 1.3 million doses by the end of the year, with double that number by the end of January.
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Vaccines against COVID are starting all over Europe
Mobile equipment was deployed throughout Germany
The country relies heavily on mobile equipment to distribute the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine, such as a nursing home in Grossräschen, east of Brandenburg. Most of the more than 400 planned vaccination centers will not operate until the next few days.
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Vaccines against COVID are starting all over Europe
The vaccine will also work with the variant: BioNTech
The vaccine, developed in part by a German company, has been ripped off by governments around the world. BioNTech has “scientific confidence” that its coronavirus vaccine will also work on the new variant detected in the UK, the company’s CEO, Ugur Sahin, told DW. The proteins in the mutated form of the virus were 99% the same as the dominant virus, he said.
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Vaccines against COVID are starting all over Europe
Hungary starts a day earlier
Hungary began vaccinating health workers on Saturday, a day before the EU’s scheduled start date. Hungary has recorded more than 316,000 cases and more than 9,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
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Vaccines against COVID are starting all over Europe
Polish paramedics vaccinated first
A Warsaw paramedic was one of the first people to receive the vaccine on Sunday in Poland. The first batch of 10,000 doses was transported from Pfizer’s facilities in Belgium to a warehouse in central Poland the day before. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki described the launch as “a major step in the fight against the epidemic”.
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Vaccines against COVID are starting all over Europe
Politicians seek to alleviate concerns
EU leaders and scientists have worked hard to insist that the vaccine is safe. In the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Andrej Babis (seen here) was at the helm of the vaccine on Sunday. In Vienna, three women and two men over the age of 80 received the vaccine in the presence of Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
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Vaccines against COVID are starting all over Europe
“I heard nothing”: first Swedish patient
Sweden, which has received praise and criticism for its looser handling of the pandemic, expects an initial batch of 10,000 shots, along with Norway. Denmark expects to have enough shots to initially vaccinate 40,000 people in care homes, followed by health personnel and people at high risk of disease. Iceland will receive 10,000 doses in early January.
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Vaccines against COVID are starting all over Europe
The first doses arrive in Cyprus
An 84-year-old man became the first patient to receive the coronavirus vaccine in Cyprus. Although Europe has some of the best-funded healthcare systems in the world, the magnitude of the effort is leading some countries to seek help from retired doctors. Other countries have loosened the rules on who has permission to make the injections.
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Vaccines against COVID are starting all over Europe
Three-stage program in Austria
A health worker at the Favoriten Hospital in Vienna was one of the first to receive the vaccine. Austria launches the vaccine through a three-stage program, starting with health professionals and people over 65. Austria has recorded more than 350,000 cases and more than 5,800 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
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Vaccines against COVID are starting all over Europe
France: one million vaccines in February
Mauricette, a 78-year-old Frenchwoman, was the first person to receive a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the Rene-Muret Hospital in Sevran, on the outskirts of Paris. France aims to vaccinate the first million people by the end of February. The country has been one of the hardest hit in Europe, with more than 2.6 million registered cases and nearly 63,000 deaths.
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Vaccines against COVID are starting all over Europe
Thumbs up in Italy
Italy began distributing the first batch of 10,000 shots on Sunday at Milan’s Niguarda Hospital (see here). In Rome, a 29-year-old nurse was the first to receive the blow at the Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Rome. Health workers were the first in line, with those over 80 years old.
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Vaccines against COVID are starting all over Europe
Portugal targets 10% of the population
The first phase of the deployment of vaccines in Portugal aims to inoculate 10% of the population, with priority given to front-line workers and those over 50 with pre-existing conditions. Here, a medical worker receives the vaccine at the Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon.
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Vaccines against COVID are starting all over Europe
Ambitious launch in Spain
Spain is expected to receive 350,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech per week, with a total of almost 4.6 million to be delivered over the next three months. The government has said it aims to vaccinate between 15 and 20 million people during the first half of 2021. Here, a 72-year-old boy receives his first injection at the Vallecas nursing home in Madrid.
The manufacturer responds
Pfizer and BioNTech said in a statement that they were aware of the incident and that their “thoughts are on the grieving family.”
“Serious adverse events, including non-vaccine-related deaths, are unfortunately likely to occur at a rate similar to that of the general elderly and at-risk population currently prioritized for vaccination.” said.
According to reports, the patient was resident in a care home in the municipality of Ebikon
The case was initially reported by a coronavirus skeptical doctor who relayed the details of the case, Swiss media reported. According to initial reports, the resident of the nursing home received the vaccine on December 24 and died five days later. They had reportedly reacted badly to flu vaccination in the past.
Millions of people have already received the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine without serious side effects. However, almost 1.8 million people have died as a result of COVID-19 itself, including almost more than 7,500 in Switzerland.
In Israel, a 75-year-old man, who had previously suffered a heart attack, died of a heart attack two hours after receiving the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine. Israeli health authorities said there appeared to be no link between the man’s death and his vaccination.
Lucerne administered the first of the 107,000 shots Switzerland has received so far, and the elderly were the first recipients.
aw / dj (Reuters, AFP, dpa)
