Norwegian officials warned on Thursday that people over the age of 80 and terminally ill could be at risk of fatal side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine after the European country’s health agency reported a number of deaths among people. grains that received inoculation.
The Norwegian Medicines Agency announced in a press release that as of Thursday, the Norwegian health registry has received reports of 23 people dying shortly after receiving the first dose of the vaccine.
Of these deaths, 13 have been autopsied and have revealed that the common side effects associated with the vaccine may have contributed to more severe reactions among the elderly and frail.
The health agency said all fatalities occurred in patients in nursing homes over the age of 80.
Sigurd Hortemo, chief physician at the Norwegian Medicines Agency, said side effects such as fever and nausea “may have contributed to a fatal outcome in some fragile patients“.
However, the agency also noted that in the country’s vaccination campaign for the elderly, many of whom are in nursing homes with serious underlying conditions, “deaths near the time of vaccination are expected to occur. ”
According to the agency, an average of 400 Norwegians die each week in long-term residences and care centers.
“For those with more severe fragility, even the relatively mild side effects of the vaccine can have serious consequences,” the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said. Bloomberg. “For those with a very short shelf life, the benefit of the vaccine may be marginal or irrelevant.”
Norway’s warning about the effects of the vaccine on the elderly is the most serious so far.
Countries around the world have begun implementing mass vaccination campaigns to combat COVID-19, which has infected more than 93 million people worldwide and killed nearly 2 million worldwide, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines are relatively rare. The CDC said that of about 2 million people vaccinated against COVID-19 over a ten-day period in December, only 21 people experienced severe allergic reactions.
The agency added that most of these people had a history of allergies or allergic reactions and that, for the 20 people with whom CDC followed, all had recovered and had been sent home. .