A reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine could prove fatal for the elderly and those people with underlying serious medical conditions. The Norwegian Medicines Agency announced that several dozen people in Norway died after receiving their first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. At least 23 people were confirmed dead within days of receiving their first dose, according to a Newsbreak.com report. NOI Research Group posted information about the deaths via twitter @NOIResearch.
13 of the Norwegian deaths were elderly nursing home residents prioritized to receive the COVID-19 vaccine according to WTBW.com. The nursing home deaths occurred in patients who were at least 80 years old. Health officials say their deaths “were apparently related to the side effects of the vaccinations”. Dr. Sigurd Hortemo, Chief Physician at the Norwegian Medicines Agency, said that common side effects like fever and nausea “may have contributed to a fatal outcome in some frail patients.” The Norwegian Medicines Agency and the National Institute of Public Health continue to investigate the deaths.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases addressed the deaths while speaking at the Choose Healthy Lives Black Clergy Conclave according to a CNN.com report. Dr. Faucii said “It is conceivable that when you have a very frail individual, such as many who are in nursing homes, that even that amount of stress to them could put them over the top,” Fauci added
Norwegian authorities have revised their COVID-19 vaccination guidelines adding a vaccination assessment for the elderly. But revising the COVID-19 vaccine guidelines to require a doctor to consider whether the person should be vaccinated or not appears to be more of a formality than medical diagnosis. Most elderly in nursing homes are very frail with serious health conditions. Doctors should seriously reconsider whether to allow any of the elderly patients to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
