In Belgium, 14 people have died after being vaccinated against the coronavirus, but no causal link between the two has been formally established, according to the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP).
Every week, the FAMHP publishes an overview of the adverse reactions reported following the administration of a Covid-19 vaccine, aiming to increase confidence in vaccines by demonstrating transparency.
Since the start of Belgium's vaccination campaign, 264 suspected side effects, associated with vaccines, have been reported on the European EudraVigilance database, according to the agency.
The vast majority of these side effects concern the Comirnaty vaccine from the Pfizer/BioNTech laboratories (262 cases, compared to two for the Moderna vaccine).
Of the 264 Belgian notifications, 37 are considered serious.
The majority of the effects reported are known and described in the summary of product characteristics (SPC) and in the vaccine leaflet. These effects were generally resolved within a few days after vaccination, explained the FAMHP.
14 reports signalled a death, all for patients who were all over 70 years old, and five even over 90 years old.
"The fact that the reported deaths did not present a common clinical picture is a rather reassuring element, as is the fact that the deaths occurred after a variable period of time," the FAMHP said.
"To date, no causal relationship has been formally found" with the Covid-19 vaccine.
Vaccinations with the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines started in Belgium on 28 December 2020 and 18 January 2021, respectively.
The Brussels Times
