Officials in Norway have said that the COVID-19 vaccines may be too risky for some elders, following the death of 23 individuals shortly after receiving their first dose of the shot.
According to the officials, 23 died shortly after receiving the Pfizer jab, with autopsies performed on 13 of the deceased pointing to common side effects of the vaccine, which may have resulted in severe reactions for elderly people.
“For those with the most severe frailty, even relatively mild vaccine side effects can have serious consequences,” the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said.
“For those who have a very short remaining life span anyway, the benefit of the vaccine may be marginal or irrelevant,” added the institute.
Following the revelation, the vaccine manufacturers noted that they would be working with the Norwegian regulator to investigate the deaths.
In addition, Pfizer further said in an e-mailed statement that the agency’s findings are “ not alarming, and in line with expectations”.
To date more than 37.9 million vaccine doses have been administered in 49 countries according to data collected by the global vaccine tracker created by Bloomberg.
