Norway expressed increasing concern about the safety of the Pfizer Inc. vaccine on elderly people with serious underlying health conditions after raising an estimate of the number who died after receiving inoculations to 29.
Updated Jan 18, 2021 | 18:44 IST
The 29 cases were enough for Norway to revise its advisory, with the NMA now suggesting that, in the case of elderly and vulnerable patients, vaccine administration will be left to the doctor s discretion. A woman receives the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination against COVID-19 on 18 January, 2021. | Photo Credit: AP
Key Highlights
Norway has administered, at least, a single dose of the approved vaccine to over 42,000 people, the large majority of whom are elderly
It is expected that, as countries proceed with their immunisation programmes, more cases of rare reactions to vaccines will crop up
The other aspect to consider is that, given that the cases in Norway all involved frail and elderly patients, it is important to determine to what degree, if any at all, the vaccine may have contributed to the fatalities
New Zealand health officials are in touch with counterparts in Europe after a small number of deaths in frail older people who received a Covid-19 vaccination in Norway. The Norwegian Medicines Agency on Thursday (NZ time Friday) reported a total of 29 people had suffered side-effects, 13 of them fatal, from the vaccine produced by Pfizer-BioNTec. All the deaths occurred among patients in nursing homes and all were over the age of 80. More than 30,000 people have received the first shot of the Pfizer or Moderna coronavirus vaccine in the Scandinavian country since the end of December, according to official figures. Norway has said it is “not alarmed” by the handful of adverse reactions and the vaccine presents “very little risk”.
01/15/2021 | Press release | Archived content
Changes in the travel advice for hospital district in Finland
Changes in the travel advice for hospital district in Finland
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now advising against non-essential travel to the Kainuu Hospital District in Finland.
Based on the Norwegian Institute of Public Health s weekly assessment of the COVID-19 situation, the Government has decided to change the status of this area from yellow to red on the map showing the status for quarantine on entry to Norway from Europe. From midnight on Sunday 17 January, anyone arriving in Norway from this area will be required to go into quarantine for 10 days. See the website of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health for more information.
<div class="at-above-post addthis tool" data-url="https://www.metro.us/norway-says-advice-on/"></div>FRANKFURT/OSLO (Reuters) – Norway said on Monday it was not changing its policy on the use of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine following reports of deaths in highly frail recipients after the inoculation was given. BioNTech had earlier say that “Norwegian Health Authorities have now changed (their) recommendation in relation to vaccination of the terminally […]<! AddThis Advanced Settings above via filter on get the excerpt ><! AddThis Advanced Settings below via filter on get the excerpt ><! AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get the excerpt ><! AddThis Share Buttons above via filter on get the excerpt ><! AddThis Share Buttons below via filter on get the excerpt ><div class="at-below-post addthis tool" data-url="https://www.metro.us/norway-says-advice-o