Experts say Norwegian post-vaccination elderly deaths not linked to vaccine

After concern mounted over a string of deaths among elderly citizens in Norway who had recently received the coronavirus vaccine, experts are saying that the deaths are not linked to the vaccine, Global News reported.

Norway has prioritized vaccinations among the elderly before other citizens, and has thus far vaccinated 45,000 elderly people. 33 of those people died after receiving the vaccine, raising concerns about its safety.

Dalhousie virologist Alyson Kelvin explained that there is a difference between "adverse events following immunization" and adverse events "directly related to a vaccine," suggesting that the deaths in Norway can be categorized among the former rather than the latter.

"I could get the vaccine and five hours later get hit by a car, and that’s going to be recorded as an adverse event," she said. "Just because it’s an adverse event, doesn’t mean it’s directly related to the vaccine. It just means that it happened after someone got a vaccination."

According to experts, the people who died after getting the vaccine in Norway did not die as a result of the vaccine. Rather, they passed away from various causes, most of which can be associated with old age. The fact that they had recently received the vaccine was incidental.

Norwegian authorities have largely agreed. While they are still investigating the string of deaths, they claim that there is no evidence linking them to the vaccine. The Norwegian authorities also noted that 400 people die every week in Norwegian long-term care facilities.

"It’s grim to speak about but we are vaccinating our oldest individuals who are not only more susceptible to COVID-19, they’re more susceptible to dying of any causes on a daily or weekly basis," Kelvin explained.

24 cases of adverse effects from the vaccine have been reported in Canada so far as over 600,000 Canadians have received doses. None of the cases have been reported as life-threatening. It is also possible that some of the cases are unrelated to the vaccine and are coincidental.

A large majority of Canadians have indicated that they intend to receive the coronavirus vaccine, with nearly half saying they would do so as soon as possible.