With a third Covid-19 vaccine now licensed in the United States, distribution is expected to increase in the coming weeks. Courthouse News spoke with medical experts about the possible side effects of the vaccine and what to know before scheduling an appointment.
(CN) – As the United States approaches 3 months of the launch of the COVID-19 vaccine, more than 57 million people have tried to get at least one vaccine. The recent approval of the Johnson vaccine
Compared to the previously approved Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, based on messenger RNA, the J vaccine
The main effect reported by patients is pain around the injection site, said Kim Litwack, a professor and dean of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Nursing.
“This is true for doses one and two,” Litwack explained, and it can also happen with the J vaccine.
When a vaccine is injected, the body’s immune reaction kicks in, responding to the presence of a foreign entity. It follows that the reaction would possibly be more intense around the source of the intruder: a needle in the arm.
Fatigue, headache, muscle and joint pain, and fever are also possible side effects. In short, you may feel like you have the flu. These symptoms are in all vaccines, but in two-dose vaccines they are not uncommon after the injection at the moment.
Pain can be controlled with acetaminophen, such as Tylenol or ibuprofen, Litwack said. Rest and fluid intake can relieve fatigue and fever.
However, he premedicates before heading to a vaccination appointment, said Todd Brown, instructor and vice chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Practice at Northeastern University School of Pharmacy.
“You shouldn’t take anything before you get the vaccine,” Brown explained, “because it depresses the immune formula in the body,” meaning the vaccine probably won’t work as effectively.
All side effects are short-lived: they usually start well within the day of vaccination and can last up to 3 days.
Side effects
As with any medication, it is imaginable to have an allergic reaction to a Covid-19 vaccine.
Allergic reactions may be less unusual with the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, Brown explained, because of the generation used to expand them, which is based on genes called mRNA.
While researchers say mRNA opens up new possibilities in medicine, the fragile curtain breaks easily. For the mRNA-based vaccines, the scientists wrapped the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines at the molecular level, packaging them into lipid nanoparticles or tiny balls of fat.
The chemical that makes up lipid molecules, polyethylene glycol, which is also used to make laxatives, appears to be the cause of most allergic reactions to vaccines. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are the first mRNA-based vaccines that can be used. ” That’s why this is the first time I’ve noticed this kind of thing,” Brown explained.
Still, the vaccine allergy rate is “extremely low,” Litwack said. According to data submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January, there were 2. 1 cases of anaphylaxis corresponding to millions of doses of the Moderna vaccine and 6. 2 cases of the Pfizer vaccine.
“As more and more doses are given,” Litwack said, “that rate decreases even more. “
Most reactions occurred within 15 minutes of receiving the vaccine, and most people who had a reaction also had a history of severe allergies or anaphylaxis.
“These vaccines are safe,” Litwack said.
Although the J vaccine
A possible adverse effect of vaccine J
However, the FDA said the existing data are “insufficient to establish a causal relationship between those moments and the vaccine. “
Based on the effects received from the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, there are unlikely to be any surprises with the J vaccine.
“We are now very familiar with the procedure, as well as the vaccines we approved,” said Dr. Arnold Monto, chair of the panel and an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
When side effects occur, there are no surprises either: Unlike long-term medications, the maximum side effects of the vaccine occur immediately, Brown said.
In addition, he noted, the effects of the aspects can be noted as something positive: “It shows that the immune formula works,” Brown said, and that the framework is creating an immune response.
It is possible that the increase in the immune formula will even help other people who have already recovered from Covid-19, but who are still experiencing persistent symptoms, to feel better.
“[T]he reports in the literature of patients with persistent symptoms after being vaccinated against covid,” Litwack said.
“There is still no knowledge to back this up,” he continued, “but one theory suggests that this may involve persistent fragments of viruses that remain in the frame after infection, which continue to aggravate the immune system. After vaccination, the frame reacts by creating more antibodies, which can eventually remove the frame from those viral fragments.
Another theory, Litwack said, is that the vaccine simply strengthens the immune formula as a whole. More studies are needed to verify the effect on COVID-19 survivors, he said, but “those with persistent symptoms would appreciate this being the case. “
Towards herd immunity
Ultimately, the goal of vaccination is the end of the pandemic. This effort is accelerated by having versions of a Covid-19 vaccine, even though J
Perfection is not the purpose when it comes to vaccination for herd immunity, Brown explained.
“No vaccine is one hundred percent effective,” Brown said. But if you live in a network that is, if everyone around you has won the vaccine, then that network has achieved herd immunity, and that’s much more effective at getting rid of a virus or an infection. “
Think about the flu shot. Although not directly comparable because it is several strains of influenza, the CDC reports that the vaccine reduces the disease through a figure between 40% and 60%.
Herd immunity means preventing the immediate spread of Covid-19 and preventing progressive mutations that can be vaccine-proof beyond undeniable private protection.
“So that’s what we have to do,” Brown said. “People are much more willing to get vaccinated on the arm as soon as possible. “
For those who don’t want to be convinced, such as those who visit the vaccination clinic where Litwack works, the most difficult component is possibly waiting for a vaccine to be available.
“People who come to vaccination clinics need the vaccine,” Litwack said. “The most important question, so far, is when can I (fill the circle of blank relatives: sister, son, daughter) get vaccinated. “
These same patients tend to be knowledgeable about the vaccine and side effects. Some also ask Litwack and his colleagues if they have a sticker that says “I have mine,” so they can use it or post it on social media.
“Like the ‘I voted’ sticker, it’s worn with pride,” Litwack said. “People want to do their part in the fight against this pandemic. “
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