A nurse prepares an injection of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine (AFP)
Norway says that Covid-19 vaccines may be too risky for the very old and terminally ill, as the country reported the alarming death of 29 elderly people shortly after being jabbed with the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine against the novel Corona virus. Several others have also fallen sick soon after getting vaccinated.
Authorities in Norway launched a probe regarding the tragic incident. According to a report published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the doctors have been asked to conduct a thorough research and evaluation of every elderly person in line waiting to be inoculated.
All these deaths have occurred in frail and old people who were more than 80 years old. Though the direct relation between the Pfizer vaccine and these deaths is yet to be figured out, the doctors after investigation have to come to the conclusion that 13 patients among the 23 did show the common after effects of the vaccine like nausea, fever, diarrhoea etc.
These common adverse reactions which were not found to be dangerous in young and fit people might have worsened the older situation and contributed to fatal outcomes in the frail patients.
"It may be a coincidence, but we aren't sure. There is no certain connection between these deaths and the vaccine" said Steinar Madsen, medical director of the Norwegian Medicines Agency (NOMA).
Over 20 thousand vaccine doses have been administered in Norway until now and normally about 400 deaths occur in the nursing homes every week. The doctors are still continuing with the vaccination process but will carry out extra evaluation of very sick people whose conditions might worsen after the inoculation.
Pfizer is now working along with Norwegian regulator to investigate the deaths in detail to find if there is any link between these death and vaccine administration or if it were just coincidences. The Norwegian government has considered adjusting their vaccination instructions to prioritize the patient's health over everything.