Health officials in Norway say there is no evidence that the COVID-19 vaccine was directly responsible for a series of deaths among the elderly.
The Norwegian Medicines Agency said that all 33 people over 75 who died after receiving the inoculation had serious underlying diseases, Bloomberg reported.
“We cannot say that people die from the vaccine,” medical director Steinar Madsen told the channel on Monday.
“We can say that it may be a coincidence. It is difficult to prove that the vaccine is the direct cause ”.
Initial reports warned that the deaths occurred several days after receiving the Pfizer vaccine, with 13 of these fatalities – all patients in nursing homes – potentially related to the side effects of the vaccines.
The Scandinavian country was using only the Pfizer vaccine before launching another from Moderna on Friday.
More than 42,000 people received at least one dose of the vaccine in the country, which prioritized the most vulnerable populations, according to government data.
Madsen emphasized on Monday that it is much more risky to choose not to receive the vaccine.
“Clearly, COVID-19 is much more dangerous for most patients than vaccination,” said Madsen. “We are not alarmed.”