While we know the COVID-19 vaccine is coming very soon, it seems there are some concerns present around it. Yes, it is quite controversial for how quickly it was prepared (they all are for that matter) but it seems the side effects in themselves might not be the easiest to face.
According to CNBC, after getting their first shot of one of the vaccines present doctors are now urging the CDC to be transparent with those considering the vaccine overall because its side effects are quite intense. One doctor by the name of Sandra Fryhofer said that she even wonders if patients will come back for their second dose because of how rough the side effects of the first shot can end up being. While the side effects don’t sound too bad and consist mostly of mild COVID side effects, it seems to be more than enough to have doctors concerned.
CNBC wrote as follows on this topic:
Dr. Sandra Fryhofer of the American Medical Association said both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines require two doses at varying intervals. As a practicing physician, she said she worries whether her patients will come back for a second dose because of the potentially unpleasant side effects they may experience after the first shot.
“We really need to make patients aware that this is not going to be a walk in the park,” Fryhofer said during a virtual meeting with the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, an outside group of medical experts that advise the CDC. She is also a liaison to the committee. “They are going to know they had a vaccine. They are probably not going to feel wonderful. But they’ve got to come back for that second dose.”
Participants in Moderna and Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine trials told CNBC in September that they were experiencing high fever, body aches, bad headaches, daylong exhaustion, and other symptoms after receiving the shots. While the symptoms were uncomfortable, and at times intense, the participants said they often went away after a day, sometimes sooner, and that it was better than getting Covid-19.
Both companies acknowledged that their vaccines could induce side effects that are similar to symptoms associated with mild Covid-19, such as muscle pain, chills, and headache.
While in the grand scheme of things mild COVID symptoms are nothing compared to coming down with the real thing but the side effects will surely turn some people away from the vaccine entirely that’s for sure. It could also affect a hospital depending on how many people get vaccinated all at once because you do not know who is going to end up needing to go home for the day or not. Everyone reacts to this kind of thing in their own ways and what might not be intense for some is over the top for others.
Do you think the CDC will hear the pleas from these doctors and make sure to warn those considering the vaccine of the side effects or are they too scared it will make people not want to take it all at a time where many are already not interested? I for one am not too sure. That being said, it will be interesting to see how things play out.