From muscle pain to fever: what side effects do the first corona vaccines have? – Science

Those who receive a vaccine may experience some side effects in the short term, such as redness at the puncture site, fatigue or fever. Reactions to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines appear to be slightly more intense in some than to the flu vaccine. How did that happen?

Pharmacists Moderna and Pfizer recently announced that their corona vaccines are 95 percent effective in clinical studies on tens of thousands of subjects and completely safe. Both vaccines are built on mRNA technology and contain a piece of genetic code of the spine protein of SARS-CoV-2 in a strand of RNA, packaged in a small fat droplet or lipid nanoparticle. The body will then produce the protein itself that is recognized by the immune system as an antigen.
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Pharmacists Moderna and Pfizer recently announced that their corona vaccines are 95 percent effective in clinical studies on tens of thousands of subjects and completely safe. Both vaccines are built on mRNA technology and contain a piece of genetic code of the spine protein of SARS-CoV-2 in a strand of RNA, packaged in a small fat droplet or lipid nanoparticle. The body then starts to produce the protein itself that is recognized by the immune system as an antigen. As with any vaccination, there is a risk of some post-vaccinal symptoms such as puncture site redness, chills, fever, fatigue, headache and muscle pain. Usually these symptoms occur with the second injection because then the immune response of the body, which was triggered by the first dose, starts. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are given in two doses with an interval of several weeks. Health experts emphasize in the scientific journal Science that the vaccines are safe, but nevertheless call on vaccine manufacturers to be as transparent as possible in advance about the possible side effects in the short term. If one gets over this too quickly, it could feed the vaccine doubts and be grist to the mill of the anti-tax movement, it sounds. Most people will not be too bothered by the corona syringe. The clinical studies show that with the Moderna vaccine, 9.7 percent of the participants experienced fatigue, 8.9 percent muscle pain, 5.2 percent joint pain, and 4.5 percent headache. In fact, for the Pfizer vaccine, the numbers are slightly lower at 3.8 percent for fatigue and 2 percent for headaches. Only less than 2 percent of the participants in the Pfizer and Moderna studies experienced a severe fever. Although that of course remains a considerable number. For example, of the 2.5 million Belgians who will receive a Pfizer vaccine, this amounts to 50,000 cases. Fever, including high fever, is not dangerous, however. It is part of the immune response elicited by the vaccine. Some test subjects testify in Science about the unpleasant side effects, but at the same time say that this does not outweigh the benefits of the vaccine. “ Bite your teeth overnight and keep painkillers nearby, ” is the advice. “ The unwanted effects of these vaccines are a little more intense when compared to the annual flu vaccine, even in high doses, ” says Arnold Monto, epidemiologist. the University of Michigan School of Public Health at Science. It is therefore important that doctors inform their patients well in advance about these possible symptoms. “The lipid nanoparticle is thought to cause the reaction to the injection,” said Drew Weissman, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania who worked on both vaccines. Lipid nanoparticles without mRNA have the same effect in animals. We see inflammatory responses in the muscles that cause pain, swelling, fever and flu-like symptoms. ”Vaccines usually have no long-term effects. Specifically for mRNA vaccines, it is not yet clear whether there are long-term risks. Theoretically, it could be that these vaccines could make autoimmune diseases worse by the immune response of the vaccine, but there is no evidence for this.

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