(Eagle News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking a review of the reports on deaths in frail elderly individuals who had received the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
In a statement on Friday, Jan. 22, WHO said that the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) has already met early this week for the review.
The GACVS is a group of experts that provides independent and authoritative guidance to WHO on the matter of safe vaccine use.
“The GACVS COVID-19 Vaccine Safety subcommittee met virtually on Tuesday, 19 January 2021, to review available information and data on deaths reported in frail, elderly individuals who had received the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, BNT162b2 (hereafter, BNT162b2),” a WHO release said.
“Experts invited from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Uppsala Monitoring Center (UMC) provided an overview of deaths reported in Europe and in the WHO global database (VigiBase) following vaccination with BNT162b2,” it said.
-Pfizer vaccine use still favorable for elderly-
WHO said that based on a “careful scientific review of the information made available” the subcommittee made several conclusions, one of which was that Pfizer vaccine use remains “favorable” in the elderly.
It also found no contributory role for the vaccine use in the elderly deaths.
“The current reports do not suggest any unexpected or untoward increase in fatalities in frail, elderly individuals or any unusual characteristics of adverse events following administration of BNT162b2,” it said.
“Reports are in line with the expected, all-cause mortality rates and causes of death in the sub-population of frail, elderly individuals, and the available information does not confirm a contributory role for the vaccine in the reported fatal events,” the report said.
Because of this, it said that the committee “considers that the benefit-risk balance of BNT162b2 remains favorable in the elderly, and does not suggest any revision, at present, to the recommendations around the safety of this vaccine.”
-Continuous monitoring of vaccine safety, effects needed-
Still, WHO said that there should be continuous monitoring of vaccine safety in various countries and that information in case of adverse events should be collected and reviewed as the COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out globally.
The GACVS COVID-19 Vaccine Safety subcommittee recommended that “data on suspected adverse events should be collected and reviewed continuously – nationally, regionally, and globally”
(Eagle News Service)