More evidence that RNA vaccines against Covid-19 are safe. The use of this new technology on such a large scale (several billion people were vaccinated worldwide in less than a year) has caused part of the population to fear the health catastrophe caused by the potential side effects of these vaccines. Fortunately, all scientific studies examining the safety of coronavirus vaccination agree that serious side effects (such as myocarditis) are rare and that vaccines are less to be feared than coronavirus infection: the risk of serious side effects after vaccination will be 55 times lower. than with the development of a severe form of Covid-19 after infection. A new study supports this notion, showing that the vast majority of side effects from RNA vaccines are mild.
The Most Robust Vaccine Pharmacovigilance System in US History
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed all adverse events reported following Covid-19 vaccination between December 2020 and June 2021, during which time more than 298 million doses of RNA vaccine were administered in this country (132 million from Moderna). and 167 million from Pfizer). Their analysis, published March 7, 2022 in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseasesis based on two pharmacovigilance systems: the American Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and a recent system created specifically for coronavirus vaccines called v-safe.
The first is administered by the CDC and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It collects all notifications of side effects after vaccination that may come from citizens, their doctors and vaccine manufacturers. The second is a mobile phone app where vaccinated people are surveyed daily to track any negative reactions during the first week after vaccination. “Most Reliable Covid-19 Vaccine Safety Tracking in U.S. History with These Two Complementary Systems“, says the informed Dr. Hanna Rosenblum, CDC researcher and study author.
More evidence that RNA vaccines against Covid-19 are safe. The use of this new technology on such a large scale (several billion people were vaccinated worldwide in less than a year) has caused part of the population to fear the health catastrophe caused by the potential side effects of these vaccines. Fortunately, all scientific studies examining the safety of coronavirus vaccination agree that serious side effects (such as myocarditis) are rare, and that vaccines are less to be feared than coronavirus infection: the risk of serious side effects after vaccination will be 55 times weaker than with the development of a severe form of Covid-19 after infection. A new study supports this notion, showing that the vast majority of side effects from RNA vaccines are mild.
The Most Robust Vaccine Pharmacovigilance System in US History
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed all adverse events reported following Covid-19 vaccination between December 2020 and June 2021, during which time more than 298 million doses of RNA vaccine were administered in this country (132 million from Moderna). and 167 million from Pfizer). Their analysis, published March 7, 2022 in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseasesis based on two pharmacovigilance systems: the American Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and a recent system created specifically for coronavirus vaccines called v-safe.
The first is administered by the CDC and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It collects all notifications of side effects after vaccination that may come from citizens, their doctors and vaccine manufacturers. The second is a mobile phone app where vaccinated people are surveyed daily to track any negative reactions during the first week after vaccination. “Most Reliable Covid-19 Vaccine Safety Tracking in U.S. History with These Two Complementary Systems“, says the informed Dr. Hanna Rosenblum, CDC researcher and study author.
90 hospitalizations per million vaccine doses
A total of 340,000 adverse events were reported to VAERS during this period, of which 313,000 (92% of the total) were mild effects such as headache, fatigue, fever, or pain at the injection site. Just over 27,000 notifications (7.9% of the total) were considered serious because they required hospitalization or an extension of hospitalization if the person was already in the hospital. The most common reasons for hospitalization in these serious cases were shortness of breath, fever, fatigue, and headache. The rate of serious cases was estimated at 90.4 notifications per million doses of vaccine administered (compared to 1049.2 for mild effects).
Since Covid-19 vaccines were first authorized for emergency use, health authorities had to report all deaths after vaccination, even if there was no direct link to the vaccine. Thus, a total of 4471 deaths were recorded, 80% of which concerned people over 60 years old. Of these deaths, 808 had a death certificate or autopsy report identifying the cause, the most common being cardiovascular disease and Covid-19. The authors say they did not find anything anomalous in these data that could indicate that coronavirus vaccines cause excess mortality. “The elderly already have a higher baseline mortality rate than the rest of the population, and our results show similar mortality rates to those seen with other vaccines for this age.,” details CDC researcher David Shay, co-author of the study. This confirms previous results from October 2021 comparing 6 million vaccinated to 4 million unvaccinated, which showed that the absolute risk of mortality was lower in people who were vaccinated against Covid-19 than in those who were not.
16% of people with a side effect could not go to work for at least a day
The second tracking system, v-safe, involved fewer people than VAERS, but with more precise tracking, such as whether a minor side effect prevented them from going to work or continuing their daily lives. Nearly 8 million newly vaccinated people have been followed up with this system, of which just over half reported at least one side effect. As with the VAERS system, almost all of the listed events were mild, the most common of which were fatigue, headache, and pain at the injection site, especially after the second injection.
About 16% of people who experienced a side effect after this second dose reported being unable to go to work, compared to 4.5% after the first dose. And less than 0.1% of the total participants reported needing hospitalization due to these side effects. “AGAINSTThe data are reassuring and show that reactions to RNA vaccines are usually mild and disappear after one or two days, confirming what has been observed in clinical trials.”, concludes Dr. Tom Shimabukuro of the CDC.