Norway And Pfizer Study Death Cases Of 23 Patients After Receiving Covid-19 Vaccine

Vaccine illustration. (Steven Cornfield / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - A team of doctors in Norway is investigating the deaths of 23 elderly patients after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine injection alerted by Pfizer / BioNTech. This is done to look for possible fatal reactions in some debilitated patients.

Following this incident, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health updated its COVID-19 vaccination guidelines, with more detailed advice for administering vaccines to the elderly who are frail or seriously ill. This includes considering the amount of side effects or benefits that will be received from the vaccine

As of Thursday last week, Norway has given its first dose of vaccine to 42 thousand of its citizens. Parents and residents of nursing homes who are at high risk of contracting, get the opportunity to vaccinate first, as reported by CNN.

"Therefore, deaths that are close to the time [from] vaccination can occur. In Norway, an average of 400 people die each week in nursing homes and long-term care facilities," the Norwegian Drug Administration (NOMA) said in a statement.

The National Institute of Public Health and the Norwegian Drug Administration have investigated 13 of the 23 reported deaths. According to the Chief Physician of the Norwegian Medical Agency Sigurd Hortemo, the investigative results suggest that common adverse reactions to mRNA vaccines, such as fever and nausea, may have contributed to the fatal outcome in some debilitated patients.

Research illustration. (Trnava University / Unsplash)

"We cannot rule out that adverse reactions to the vaccine that occur within the first days after vaccination (such as fever and nausea) can cause a more serious course and fatal outcome in patients with severe underlying disease," he said.

Pfizer itself, in its statement to CNN, revealed that it was aware of the reported death and condolences to the bereaved family. In addition, pfizer and NOMA work together to gather relevant information.

"The Norwegian authorities have prioritized the immunization of residents in nursing homes. Most of them are very elderly with underlying medical conditions and some are seriously ill. NOMA said the number of incidents so far was not alarming and was in line with expectations," Pfizer said in a statement.