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Summary
- NEW Zealand is closely monitoring the side effects of Pfizer- BioNTech in the Scandinavian and other countries.
- Medsafe, the NZ regulatory authority, is in touch with its European counterparts.
- Experts in New Zealand say that deaths following the COVID-19 Vaccination could be a coincidence.
New Zealand health officials became cautious following the deaths that occurred due to COVID-19 Pfizer-BioNTec vaccine in Norway.
Medsafe, the Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority, which is also looking at the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines, is in touch with its European equals after the news of the deaths of some people who had received the COVID-19 vaccine. A total number of 29 people suffered side effects and 13 of them died in Norway.
Out of the four drug companies that New Zealand is getting the vaccines from, Pfizer-BioNTec is a prominent one. It will be supplying almost 1.5 million doses to New Zealand.
Medsafe monitoring the situation closely
Chris James, Medsafe Group Manager, said that NZ was watching the situation very closely. He also said that so far, it were the elderly who had reported side effects.
It is learnt that the Norwegian authorities are revising their guidelines as to who should get the vaccine. They will let doctors take a call on who should be vaccinated, depending the medical history of individuals.
Also Read: How COVID-19 pandemic plagued NZ tourism; The sector’s response, and prospects
Norway’s Counterparts not alarmed by the reported deaths
Even though Norway authorities are not alarmed after the deaths as they could have been due to fever and nausea, which have been listed as side effects, New Zealand is making sure that the vaccines are safe for use. Medsafe is monitoring the rollout of vaccines in other countries and making observations about the safety profiles of the vaccines.
There are more than 42,000 people who were vaccinated in Norway, and out of those 29 people, all above 75 years of age, have died after taking the vaccine. According to experts in New Zealand, this is not an alarming number and there is no clue that the two are linked.
They have noted that the deaths were most probably a coincidence.
NZ Planning a rollout after Monitoring Other countries
The government of New Zealand, which is planning the largest immunization rollout till date, has said that it would want to ensure the efficacy and safe usage of vaccines before the rollout. There are some side effects from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which are considered common.
There are some side effects from the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, which are common and normal. There are some mild to moderate side effects. That is something all those being vaccinated must expect.
Prime Minister Adern can afford to wait
Earlier, the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern while responding to opposition’s demand for an early rollout of vaccines had said that Medsafe was going to ensure that the vaccines were safe for use. She said that different countries had different response, depending on the scale of community spread. In New Zealand, however, there was no urgency as the number of patients was still small as compared to other countries.
Chris Hipkins, NZ’s Minister for COVID-19 Response, is yet to look at the news of deaths reported in Norway at length as the information came overnight. But he said that New Zealand would go through rigorous approvals process before beginning the vaccination drive.
