At least three claims over serious side effects of Oxford-made vaccine AstraZeneca have been upheld in Norway, resulting in financial compensation. Dozens more are expecting a ruling in connection with coronavirus-jab reactions.
The Norwegian System of Patient Injury Compensation (NPE) will make payments to three applicants badly affected by the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, it announced on Friday. It officially confirmed that the vaccine, currently suspended in the European country, has resulted in severe cases of blood clots and low platelet counts in these patients, one of whom died.
Among those who suffered badly from the shot – later removed from the national vaccination program due to serious side-effects – are health workers who were prioritized to be vaccinated. The two women were hospitalized in March and one of them, who was in her 40s, died. Another applicant, an unnamed man in his 30s, is still suffering from severe immune reactions.
“I was admitted to hospital with great pain. It was frightening to follow the news about others who had just died from the same vaccine,” he told NPE.
Officials are now calculating the exact amount of compensation, the body’s director Rolf Gunnar Jorstad announced, saying that direct connections between the vaccine and its receivers’ deteriorated conditions have been established and medically confirmed. The family of the deceased woman will also receive payment for her funeral, he said.
In total, 77 compensation claims related to side effects of Covid vaccines have been received in Norway. Over 50 of those concern AstraZeneca, while there are also complaints about Pfizer and Moderna shots. Eight of the 77 applications involve fatal cases.
At the same time, more than 16,000 reports of suspected side effects of anti-Covid vaccination have been recorded by the end of June, NRK media reported, citing the Norwegian Medicines Agency. While many people complain of relatively mild symptoms such as fever, headache, fatigue and dizziness, more serious medical consequences, including blood clots, bleeding, paralysis and severe allergic reactions with anaphylaxis, have also been reported.
794 people in Norway have died with coronavirus. Some 4.2 million vaccine doses have been administered, with over 1.5 million people now being fully vaccinated. Many have received Oxford-AstraZeneca shots earlier this year but, within weeks of the launch of the vaccination campaign, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) recommended that the government stop using it, following reports of potentially fatal, rare blood clots. AstraZeneca was then completely removed from the national vaccine rollout, while NIPH has also expressed concerns over another, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
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