Image from Mark König on Unsplash
In Norway, authorities are investigating the deaths of nearly two dozen people who received the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX).
To date, it has analyzed data from 13 of those individuals.
The Norwegian Medicines Agency concluded that common adverse reactions to mRNA vaccines, including fever and nausea, could have contributed to deaths in elderly and frail patients.
The agency said in a statement that it had expected deaths close to the time of vaccination, given its plan to vaccinate elderly patients, many of whom have “serious underlying diseases.” Some 400 people in Norway die each week in nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
While it is clear that elderly individuals have a higher risk of mortality from all causes, it will take time to determine what role a vaccine might play, said Updesh Dosanjh, practice leader of technology solutions at IQVIA, in a November interview. “You need to do some of the soft analysis that starts looking into the patient history,” he said. Organizations looking into such data also might compare the mortality rates of vaccinated people who are, say, 95 and above versus those who are slightly younger. “That kind of second-level analysis is why it often takes three months to get to the point of knowing whether there’s a risk,” Dosanjh said.
In any event, individuals 85 and older have the highest risk of severe illness from COVID-19, according to the CDC. Some 80% of U.S. deaths linked to the virus involved individuals 65 or older.
Although there were no suspected fatal reactions in the Pfizer-BioNTech Phase 3 clinical trial of the vaccine, few participants were over 85. In the study, two recipients died in the treatment group out of a pool of 21,621 volunteers. Conversely, there were four deaths in the placebo group of 21,631 participants.
Of the two deaths in the vaccine arm, both involved individuals greater than 55 years old. One patient had a cardiac arrest 62 days after the second vaccination and died three days later. The other individual died from arteriosclerosis three days after receiving the first vaccine dose.
Officials in the U.S. are also investigating the death of a Florida physician who developed a blood disorder after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Filed Under: clinical trials, Drug Discovery, Infectious Disease
Why don’t Norway switch to Moderns of other for frail elderly in nursing homes? Could be one of the ingredients in Phizer’s that isthe cause.
NORWAY: THE MANY TRAGIC DEATHS OF NEWLY VACCINATED CARE HOME RESIDENTS
Norwegian Medicines Agency, Institute of Public Health and other Norwegian health authorities explain that the reasons for the deaths are old age and frail health. Together with the manufacturer they are now assessing the reasons for the deaths, like foxes guarding the hen house.
THE HEALTH AUTHORITIES ARE OMITTING MOST RELEVANT INFORMATION:
– THAT CLINICAL TRIALS FOR SAFETY OF THE PFIZER VACCINE (AND OTHER COVID 19 VACCINES) WERE ONLY PERFORMED ON HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS
The health authorities also omit information that clinical safety trials publish a list of “EXCLUSION CRITERIA” (individuals who were not included in the safety trials).
This shortened list is of individuals with conditions which were excluded from the safety trials:
Frail health, the very old, psychiatric conditions, abnormal lab results, allergies, high blood pressure, diabetes 1, respiratory conditions, heart conditions, asthma, smokers, autoimmune conditions, those who take anticoagulants, corticosteroids, long term medicines and many more… No care home residents were included.
The health authorities know that in addition to old age and frail health there is an extremely long list of other conditions which may be contraindicated for people of all ages regarding vaccination. There is no documentation concerning safety regarding vaccination of ANYONE of ANY age with ANY of the above conditions.
It is blatantly obvious that residents in care homes should never have been on the priority list for vaccination.
Only after news of all the deaths are the health authorities stating that the very old and those with frail health should first be medically evaluated with respect to vaccination. It may well be questioned whether the Norwegian health authorities should be held accountable for contributing towards the many tragic deaths.
My husband has heart failure and stage four kidney failure I have a lung disease. Do you think we would not get the second shot. We got the first shot of Pfizer.