Officials in Norway warned on Thursday that people over 80 and terminally ill may be at risk of fatal side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine after the European country’s health agency reported a series of deaths among elderly people who received inoculation.
The Norwegian Medicines Agency announced on a press release that until Thursday, the Norwegian health record received reports from 23 people who died shortly after receiving their first dose of the vaccine.
Of these deaths, 13 were autopsied and revealed that the common side effects associated with the vaccine may have contributed to more serious reactions among frail elderly people.
The health agency said all deaths occurred among patients in nursing homes over the age of 80.
Sigurd Hortemo, chief physician of the Norwegian Medicines Agency, said that side effects such as fever and nausea “may have contributed to a fatal outcome in some fragile patients. ”
However, the agency also noted that, in the country’s vaccination campaign for the elderly, many of whom are in nursing homes with serious underlying problems, “it is expected that deaths near the time of vaccination can occur ”.
According to the agency, an average of 400 Norwegians die each week in nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
“For those with more severe frailty, even the relatively mild side effects of the vaccine can have serious consequences,” said the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, according to Bloomberg. “For those who have a very short remaining life, the benefit of the vaccine may be marginal or irrelevant.”
Norway’s warning about the vaccine’s effects on the elderly is the most severe so far.
Countries around the world have started to implement mass vaccination campaigns to combat COVID-19, which has infected more than 93 million people worldwide and killed almost 2 million worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Last week, the USA Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccinations are relatively rare. The CDC said that of nearly 2 million people who were vaccinated against COVID-19 over a 10-day period in December, only 21 people experienced severe allergic reactions.
The agency added that most of these people had a history of allergies or allergic reactions and, for the 20 people with whom the CDC accompanied, all recovered and were sent home.