Australia’s Chief Medical Officer has tried to ease the public’s concern after a ‘handful’ of aged care residents passed away shortly after receiving the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
Professor Paul Kelly said there was no evidence the deaths were linked to the vaccine before pointing out an average of 1,000 aged care residents die from natural causes every week.
The deaths were all within the first 42-72 hours of the resident’s receiving the vaccine during the first week of the rollout, The Daily Telegraph reported.
“Each of them have another explanation, other than vaccine and none of them have had any sign of any adverse events following the vaccine up until the time that they’ve been found to have passed away,” Professor Kelly said.
The deaths were also investigated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the vaccine provider.
As of March 9, 23,995 aged care residents have received their first shot of the two-dose vaccine.
