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FACT BRIEF

Did Norwegian scientists say it was less risky to catch COVID-19 than to take the AstraZeneca vaccine?

By Marlo Lee
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An article published online takes a report from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and spins it to make it seem as though having the coronavirus would be better than getting the AstraZeneca vaccine.

"No, we have never said that catching COVID is safer than taking the vaccine. We think that the AstraZeneca vaccine is a good vaccine," Geir Bukholm, director of Infection Control and Prevention at the NIPH, told Lead Stories.

Use of the AstraZeneca vaccine was put on hold in Norway in March because of "rare but severe" incidents including blood clots, low platelet counts and hemorrhaging, according to the NIPH.

Now, since Norway has a low infection rate and most of the nation's elderly have already been vaccinated or soon will be, its younger population can wait for a vaccine alternative, according to the NIPH.

See a full discussion of this at Lead Stories
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Norwegian Institute of Public Health Norwegian Institute of Public Health's recommendation about AstraZeneca vaccine
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Lead Stories
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.