ROME, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- After surveying the results of a year's vaccination campaign in Italy, the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) found a rate of 0.2 fatal cases per million doses, "significantly lower than deaths expected."
A total of 22 fatalities could be correlated to the administration of COVID-19 vaccines in Italy, the AIFA said in its latest COVID-19 vaccine surveillance report unveiled in a press conference broadcast live on Wednesday.
The agency said the figure was concluded after analyzing all types of adverse reactions to the vaccine doses administered in the country between Dec. 27, 2020 and Dec. 26, 2021.
"Within 14 days from the vaccination with any dose, deaths observed are always significantly lower than deaths expected," AIFA said.
"Therefore, there is no increase in the number of (adverse) events in the vaccinated population compared to what we would expect in a similar unvaccinated population," it added.
By Dec. 26, the National Pharmacovigilance Network had reported some 117,920 cases of adverse reactions following immunization with about 83.7 percent of them classified as non-serious, the annual report said.
The most frequently adverse effects recorded include fever, fatigue, headache, muscle or joint pain, chills and nausea. The large majority of related deaths were found to have no causal link to vaccination, while 23.5 percent still needs to be further analyzed, according to AIFA.
Italy has so far approved five vaccines for domestic use, which are respectively produced by Novavax, Moderna, Pfizer/BioNtech, Johnson&Johnson and Oxford/AstraZeneca. Comirnaty of Pfizer/BioNtech, according to AIFA, was the most widely used in Italy.
While presenting the report, paediatrician and Italy's Higher Health Council President Franco Locatelli also stressed the COVID-19 vaccination proved safe for children.
"So far, some 35 percent of children aged 5-11 have received at least one dose and the rate of adverse reaction cases is 1.74," Locatelli said.
AIFA also recommended the COVID-19 vaccination "during both pregnancy and breast-feeding," saying that "no specific safety concerns emerge from pharmacovigilance data and ad-hoc studies in this population."
As of Wednesday, Italy has 88.5 percent of its population aged above 12 fully immunized, and 35 million people have received a booster.
The government has made vaccination compulsory for everyone aged above 50 and for all workers in healthcare sector, education, and military and police forces.
So far, the country has recorded some 11.7 million cases with over 149,000 fatalities and 9.6 million recoveries. ■