London, Jan 06: Two nursing home residents died after receiving doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. The Medical Director of the Norwegian Medicines Agency and Norway’s National Institute of Public Health is investigating the deaths.
This comes after a paediatric surgery assistant in Porto was found dead two days after being administered the Pfizer coronavirus jab.
According to the Daily mail, Sonia Acevedo, a 41-year-old nurse suffered a “sudden death” at her home on Friday (January 1), 48 hours after being vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Medical Director of Norwegian Medicines Agency Steiner Madsen said in a statement, “We have to assess whether the vaccine is the cause of death, or if it is a coincidence that it happened soon after vaccination.”
The agency along with Norway’s National Institute of Public Health is looking into the cause of the deaths.
Madsen also said that it is entirely possible that the deaths could be coincidental as people of advanced age are receiving the coronavirus vaccine first.
Pfizer Inc’s CEO Albert Bourla had said in an interview that the company is “not certain” if those who receive its vaccine will be able to transmit the coronavirus to others.
A few volunteers said they suffered side effects comparable to a flu jab after Pfizer claimed that its COVID-19 vaccine is more than 90% effective based on initial results. One even compared the side effects to “a severe hangover”.
Norway will impose fresh restrictions to prevent a resurgence in the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Erna Solberg said on Sunday, including a nationwide ban on serving alcohol in restaurants and bars and not inviting guests home.
“We see more signs of a new wave of infections,” Solberg told a news conference, citing Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations and the emergence of the more contagious variant of the virus first identified in Britain among the reasons.
Norwegians must put their social lives on hold for the next two weeks in order to keep the virus under control, she said. “I ask you not to have any visitors at home. Wait a fortnight before inviting anyone home or visiting others,” she said.
A day earlier the government announced that university lectures were suspended and told students to stay at home.
Shops, kindergartens and elementary schools will remain open. Middle schools and high schools will also remain open but will use more remote learning than currently.
Norway had already some of the toughest travel restrictions in Europe, requiring non-residents to have proof they are COVID-19 negative before entering the country.
Last week, Oslo imposed mandatory COVID-19 tests for all people entering Norway from abroad, either upon arrival or within 24 hours, to stop the spread of the coronavirus variant detected first in Britain.
Small border crossings have been shut as they do not have capacity to have COVID-19 test centres and more military personnel will man the border with Finland in the Arctic.
The Nordic country has seen a rise in cases over the past month and now estimates its R number – which represents the average number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to – stands at 1.3. (Agencies)
