9 deaths of elderly and sick people, no link established with the vaccine

Nine deaths of elderly people who had received the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 have been registered in France, without a connection being established between their death and vaccination, the Norwegian Medicines Agency said on Friday, according to which they were ill and under heavy treatment.

“Given the elements available to date, there is nothing to conclude that these deaths are related to vaccination,” ANSM stressed in the weekly vaccine monitoring update.

These nine deaths concern “elderly people living in EHPAD or in retirement homes who have all had chronic illnesses and heavy treatments”.

They are part of the “31 cases of serious side effects” that have been identified in people who have been vaccinated with the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, the first to be available in France (the first injections took place on 27 December).

4 cases of tachycardia episodes

Among these cases, there are “4 cases of tachycardia episodes” (acceleration of heartbeat). “A potential signal regarding the risk of tachycardia has been identified. This signal is currently under investigation,” specifies ANSM.

135 side effects

A total of 135 cases of side effects were identified. “Most of the effects correspond to expected or non-serious side effects”, especially “fever, headache and nausea”, continues ANSM.

No side effects were observed with Moderna

In addition, at this stage we observed “no cases of adverse effects with the Moderna vaccine”, the second vaccine made available in France, and the first delivery took place on 11 January.

According to the latest figures from the Ministry of Health, published on Thursday night, over 823,000 people have so far been vaccinated against Covid-19 in France.