800 Temporary Side Effects Reported With COVID-19 – Recurring Symptoms Remain The Same

Mild flu symptoms were the most common

As the head of the State Drug Control Service said. advisor Rugilė Pilvinienė, almost all side effects that occur correspond to those listed in the Summary of Product Characteristics.

“This is a key document for the specialist who tracks adverse events. The same information will be provided in the prospectus. In practice, what is written in the medical documents is reported, ”said R. Pilvinienė.

According to her, the most common and recorded reactions to the vaccine were: pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, muscle and bone pain, which is known as a bone fracture, fever, swelling of the lymph nodes.

“These are common side effects of vaccines that indicate a process that stimulates the production of antibodies. There is nothing unexpected ”, commented the IWT specialist.

There are other reactions. The greatest variety of reactions, as well as the number of reports, come after Comirnaty. However, it also vaccinated the largest number of people: more than 163 thousand. So it would be a mistake to think that this vaccine causes the most side effects – the more people get vaccinated, the more information about side effects.

At present, the AstraZeneca vaccines, according to the interlocutor, have been injected in just over 14,000 doses, and Moderna around 10,000.

“And we are talking about how many vaccines have been carried out, not how many people have been vaccinated. Actually, there are more vaccines than vaccinated people: 2 doses, so the number of vaccinations is greater and the number of vaccinated people is less. For example, only the first dose of AstraZeneca has been administered, which means that the number of vaccines used and the number of people vaccinated remains the same. And the number of people vaccinated with Moderna and Comirnaty is less than the number of vaccinations carried out, ”explained R. Pilvinienė.

Several more serious reactions have also been reported.

However, some vaccinated have had less frequent reactions to the vaccine. However, even those reactions were short-lived.

“We have already received the largest number of reports of this vaccine, around 580. There are also reports of nausea or vomiting, as well as cases that have not been described in the product information or only isolated cases. For example, facial nerve damage, where a transient facial sagging occurs, paralysis that passes in a couple of days. Other facial numbness, fluctuations in blood pressure “, – said the specialist.

There have also been a number of serious adverse reactions, such as those requiring hospitalizations and treatment. For example, drips, allergy medications, or blood pressure-lowering medications are given.

However, according to the interlocutor, no adverse reactions lasting more than a few days and leading to longer medical treatment or death were reported.

The severe reactions were mainly due to the Pfizer vaccine and only a couple to AstraZeneca, with no such reactions during the first month of vaccination with Moderna. Again, it is worth remembering that vaccination rates with these vaccines are not the same and the number of people vaccinated with Pfizer is significantly higher.

According to R. Pilvinienė, the number of reports of adverse reactions per 1,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine is 3 to 4, and in Moderna also 3 to 4. AstraZeneca received about 13 reports per 1,000 injections.

“However, we must be clear that the report does not match the frequency of adverse reactions. It can only be counted accurately in clinical trials in which all people who received the vaccine or placebo were asked if they had any side effects and what it was like. We cannot draw these conclusions ourselves, because it would be very wrong from a scientific point of view, “said the interlocutor.

Side effects from the Pfizer vaccine occur after the second dose.

According to the IWT representative, more side effects were seen after the second dose of Pfizer. After her, some of the vaccinated people reported pain in the head, muscles and bones, and fever.

“However, all these phenomena are closely related to fever. After all, when we have the flu or another viral infection, we realize that when the temperature rises, we often have headaches, muscles, broken bones, chills and we accept everything very naturally. And the leaflet says that after Pfizer or Moderna, fever and other side effects are more common after the second dose, “said the specialist.

At that time, the data for the AstraZeneca vaccine is not yet comparable, as Lithuanians have only received the first dose of this vaccine. However, the SPC states that the reactions after the second dose of this vaccine were milder and slower than after the first.

“So far, we have not noticed any tendency for side effects to occur more frequently, because the reports were received from people of different ages who were vaccinated,” said R. Pilvinienė.

According to the interlocutor, Lithuanians are currently quite active in reporting adverse effects of vaccines.

“From our general work practice, we can say that for us the workload has really increased significantly, the message flow is significantly higher than before, we need to work with limited human resources and it really is difficult for us to record everything.

Compared to data from other countries on the number of messages they received, we are very similar. The percentage of vaccine doses consumed, depending on the extent of vaccination, is approximately 0.36 to 0.37%. During the first month, there were reports of adverse reactions, ”said R. Pilvinienė.

At that time, the number of post-vaccine adverse reactions reported in Norway was 0.48%. Estonians had the highest activity: they received 0.8 percent. reports of adverse reactions.

Adverse reactions to vaccines can be reported on the website of the State Drug Control Agency.