By John Miller
ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss drug regulator swissmedic said on Wednesday it saw no link between the death of a 91-year-old in the canton of Lucerne and the COVID-19 vaccine, adding that the deceased suffered from several illnesses before receiving the injection.
“Clarifications from the cantonal health authorities and the Swiss doctor determined that, as a result of the history and course of the disease, a link between death and the COVID-19 vaccine was highly unlikely,” the regulator said in a statement.
Swissmedic said that previous illnesses would be listed on the death certificate as the person’s “natural cause of death”.
Lucerne was the site of the first vaccinations in Switzerland last week, with an injection from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech applied mainly to the elderly.
Switzerland has received 107,000 doses from Pfizer / BioNTech so far and expects to receive 250,000 doses per month starting next year.
Neither Lucerne nor swissmedic disclosed the time between receiving the shot and the moment of death. The person’s gender was not provided.
The vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech is the only inoculation approved so far in Switzerland. It has been approved on an emergency basis in the United States and Great Britain, and has conditional approval for commercialization in the European Union, after testing on tens of thousands of people.
Pfizer said its thoughts were with the family of the deceased.
“It is important to note that serious adverse events, including deaths unrelated to the vaccine, are unfortunately likely to occur at a rate similar to what would happen in the general population of elderly and at-risk individuals who are currently being prioritized for vaccination,” said the company with headquarters in the United States.
Millions of doses of the vaccine have been administered. Several people suffered allergic reactions after the vaccines, although these incidents were resolved quickly.
(Reporting by Oliver Hirt; Writing by John Miller; Editing by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Jan Harvey)