Possible Side Effects of COVID-19 Vaccines: What You Need to Know

Researchers Work On Developing Test For Coronavirus At Hackensack Meridian's Center For Discovery and Innovation

(Photo : Getty Images/Kena Betancur)
NUTLEY, NJ - FEBRUARY 28: A researcher works in a lab that is developing testing for the COVID-19 coronavirus at Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Discovery and Innovation on February 28, 2020 in Nutley, New Jersey. The facility develops novel therapies for some of the world’s most difficult diseases. At least 53 countries have reported cases of infection.

Side effects should be considered now that we know vaccines are on the horizon in the United States, and dissemination could begin by mid-December. Pfizer and Moderna have already filed for emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their vaccine candidates as the global race for a vaccine are ongoing.

Possible Side Effects of COVID-19 Vaccines

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the United Kingdom stated it would add COVID-19 vaccines to an existing scheme to cover liabilities from probable serious side effects of the shots. That is, on the day after, it became the first Western country to approve a vaccine against COVID-19 that has created havoc across the globe.

In 2021, hundreds of millions of people would be inoculated against SARS-CoV-2. This novel coronavirus vaccination campaign's success would be dependent on public trust that the vaccines are simultaneously safe and effective, reported The Conversation.

A 24-year-old Boston local shared his experience as a participant in the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine trial. He described what it felt like upon being injected.

Moderna has filed for emergency FDA approval for its vaccine candidate, which the firm declared was shown to be about 94.1 percent effective.

According to Yasir Batalvi, a recent college graduate, "I put my name down because I felt so helpless. It's public service. I have to do it, because I think mass-scale vaccination is really the only realistic way out of the pandemic that we're in," reported Boston.

He remarked the initial one of the two shots felt similar to getting a flu shot with arm stiffness where he was administered the injection. Following the second dose, he said he felt more significant symptoms.

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According to Batalvi, "I developed a low grade fever and fatigue and chills and all the stuff that's associated with that. So I was out for about a day, the good part of a day and then that evening."

If the situation would improve, priority populations could start being vaccinated before the end of 2020.

In the 3rd phase of Moderna's vaccine trials, an estimated 10 percent of participants suffered from fatigue, about nine percent reported muscle aches, and around five percent had headaches and joint pain.

Moderna stated none of the thousands who were administered two shots of its vaccine candidate had COVID-19 severe symptoms. This is in contrast to 30 patients who were administered a placebo who had symptoms.

Batalvi then called the study doctors to inform them regarding his symptoms. They were not alarmed and advised him he should not be either.

The active ingredient in the vaccine is messenger RNA that carries instructions for causing the virus's spike protein, which it utilizes to obtain cells' entry. The mRNA is synthetic and not extricated from actual viruses.

The World Health Organization indicated there were over 200 vaccine candidates underway as of last month. Forty-eight are in clinical trials. Moderna, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca are drug companies with leading vaccine candidates.

To obtain the public's trust, the medical and scientific communities have the challenge to engage in difficult discussions with the public regarding the significant fraction of people who would undergo temporary side effects from the COVID-19 vaccines.