The Therapeutic Goods Administration has released a statement to reassure Australians of the vaccine approval process after reports of around 23 deaths among elderly recipients of the Pfizer/BioNTech in Norway.
The TGA said it received reports of the deaths from over 40,000 elderly individuals in Norway who were vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
“The deaths were recorded among very frail patients including some which were anticipated to only have weeks or months to live,” the statement read.
The chief vaccine regulator said it will continue to work with European regulators to investigate “any possible adverse risks” associated with COVID-19 vaccines.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the government is “proceeding with an abundance of caution, so there is no changes with our timeframes at this point”.
The Pfizer vaccine is one of many the Australian government is currently attempting to secure.
