Norway After Denmark Will Stop Using Astra Zeneca And Johnson &Johnson Vaccines

Norway will stop vaccinating AstraZeneca and Johnson &Johnson (Reuters)

JAKARTA – The Norwegian government established an expert committee that serves to evaluate the Covid-19 vaccine after serious side effects following the use of Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca.

Neither brand of vaccine seems to be recommended by a committee of experts to be injected into people. Lars Vorland, chairman of the expert committee, gave a report to the Norwegian government.

The report "does not recommend the use of adenoviral vector vaccines in national immunization programs."

"It's of course due to serious side effects," Vorland said.

However, to date Norwegian Health Minister Bent Hoie has not given his official statement regarding the use of the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines.

As of mid-March, it was noted that the Norwegian government had injected 134,000 AstraZeneca vaccines into its population. There were 5 cases of severe thrombosis occurring at a young age, three of which were critical. Two other vaccine recipients died from brain haemorrhage, as reported by CNBC.

On March 11, the Norwegian government finally suspended the AstraZeneca vaccine after it was discovered that side effects had the potential to be fatal.

The move was followed up on April 15, when Norwegian health authorities suggested stopping the AstraZeneca vaccine. Before doing so, the government first established a committee of experts to conduct an examination of the risks after injecting the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

Previously, the WHO and the European Medicines Agency suggested the use of the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines because they could provide greater benefits than the risks.

Norway's close neighbor Denmark is rumoured to have revoked the use of the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Denmark has officially stopped both vaccines en masse. However, certain age groups are rumoured to still be getting the AstraZeneca vaccine.