No one vaccine can be side-effect free. Most vaccines deliver 'reactogenic' side-effects, which are usual in nature.
Moderna
is not only the first Pharma company who will be rolling out a vaccine on such
a large scale, but their vaccine reportedly also carries a whopping 94.5%
efficacy rate, leaving fellow competitors like Oxford-Astrazeneca, Pfizer,
Sputnik V behind.
While
there is no vaccine which does not deliver side-effects, it's important to be
aware of them, nonetheless. According to reports, Pfizer, which comes backed
with a 90% safety rate induced 'hangover' like symptoms in patients post
inoculation. Similar ones were also observed in volunteers part of the Oxford
study and the ones who have been injected with the Russian vaccine, Sputnik V.
One side-effect
which can be expected post vaccination can be a low-grade fever. However, it's
not an alarming sign. Fever happens when the biochemical compounds activate the
immune cells, which then makes certain inflammatory markers to rise up. This
leads to a rise in fever, redness or swelling at times. Most of these go away
on its own after 2-3 days post inoculation and do not require any special
treatment.
A fever can also
be an indicator of your body starting to produce antibodies.
Read more: The reasons why second dose of COVID-19 vaccine has worse side effects
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Nurse researcher Kristen Choi, PhD, RN, experienced first-hand a "worst-case scenario" of potential side effects after receiving an experimental COVID-19 vaccine in a phase 3 trial. She says clinicians should be prepared to reassure patients if reports of similar experiences spread when vaccine rollouts begin.
"This was the highest fever I
can ever remember having, and it scared me," said Choi, with the School of
Nursing at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Choi volunteered to participate in
Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine trial in August. When she came back for the second
dose in September she began to experience distressing symptoms.
The symptoms,
started with immediate pain at the injection site. By nightfall, she felt "felt
light-headed, chilled, nauseous, and had a splitting headache" and went to
bed.
She woke up at midnight and the symptoms had intensified and she could hardly move her arm from injection-site pain. Choi slept fitfully and when she woke up at 5:30 AM her thermometer read 104.9 °F (40.5 °C).
By the next
morning all symptoms had disappeared except for a sore bump at the injection
site.
Read also : 6 reasons why you shouldn't worry about COVID-19 vaccines
She said that her
reason for writing the article was to let anyone who will be administering a
COVID-19 vaccine know that when a rollout begins some patients may experience
the same side effects. Disclosure forms
are not enough to make sure people understand that what they may experience is
normal, she said.
After all, even
Choi, who administers vaccines and whose career centers on research, began to
fear something was wrong when symptoms flared even though she was thoroughly
briefed on potential side effects. She says rational thought for her went out
the window when her fever spiked.
Two vaccine
experts said that Choi's symptoms were the extreme case and the vast majority
of people will not experience her level of discomfort.
Read more: The reasons why you should worry about AstraZeneca vaccine
But they both agree Choi's message is an important reminder that healthcare professionals need to be prepared to answer questions when the rollouts begin.
Her story may
also point out the need for creating a hotline for 24/7 access so that if
patients do experience severe symptoms they can get answers right away, they
said.
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In some ways,
these mild to moderate reactions are “a good thing,” because “it's a sign that the immune system
is responding to the vaccine.” Nevertheless, they shouldn't be downplayed.
