15,000 Covid-19 vaccine side effects reported in Ireland
Ireland's Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) has received almost 15,000 notifications of suspected side effects of the Covid-19 vaccines.
Up to August 31, a total of 14,844 reports of suspected side effects were notified to the HPRA. The number of COVID-19 vaccines administered as of that date was reported as 6,836,122, including 232,600 administered as a single dose, 3,455,838 as a first dose, and 3,147,684 as a second dose.
The HPRA says, "Whilst not experienced by everyone, all vaccines have some side effects, the vast majority of which are mild to moderate in nature. These side effects need to be continuously balanced against the benefits in preventing COVID-19 illness. Overall, the national reporting experience continues to support the favourable assessment that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccines outweigh the risks."
On September 3, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) published highlights from its monthly safety committee meeting, which included information on COVID-19 vaccines. They also published safety update reports for mRNA vaccines (Comirnaty®,
Spikevax® [previously COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna]) and adenoviral vector vaccines (Vaxzevria® and COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen®). These publications describe safety issues under evaluation, as well as any new recommendations.
The EMA’s safety committee is currently assessing whether there is a possible risk of multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS), which is an inflammatory condition affecting many parts of the body, with COVID-19 vaccines following a small number of reports.
Some of the other side effects reports to the HPRA include: Chills, fatigue, ‘flulike’ feeling, fever, injection site pain or swelling, dizziness, headache, lack of energy, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, cough, shortness of breath and palpitations.
Many of these side effects have not been scientifically linked to the vaccine but rather are a collection of reports from individuals and those in healthcare following administration.