Norway will not change its policy on the use of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine following deaths among highly frail recipients, but officials have said that health workers should properly assess patients before deciding whether to give them the jab.
As of January 14, 23 reports of deaths suspected to be associated with COVID-19 vaccines had been submitted to the Norwegian health registry.
Of the 13 cases analysed in detail so far, the concerned individuals were elderly, frail and had serious diseases, Camilla Stoltenberg, director of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI), told reporters on Monday.
“It is important to remember that about 45 people die every day in nursing homes in Norway, so it is not a given that this represents any excess mortality or that there is a causal connection,” she said.
Stoltenberg reiterated that the FHI’s guidelines on administering the vaccine remained the same, stating doctors should consider the overall health of their patients before giving them the jab.
“One should have an assessment of each and every one before offering the vaccine,” she said.
But, she added: “It’s not impossible that some of those who have gotten the vaccine are so frail that maybe you should have reconsidered and not given them the vaccine, because they are so sick that they might have become worse from the normal side effects as the body reacts and builds up immunity.”
News of the deaths had raised alarm over the safety of the vaccine.
BioNTech had earlier said that Norwegian health authorities changed their recommendation in relation to vaccination of the terminally ill.
But the company later retracted the statement following clarification from Norway. Pfizer did not have any immediate comment.
Norway’s death toll from the pandemic currently stands at 521 people, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University...
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