What are Common side effects of vaccine?
Covid vaccine side effects
What is coronavirus?
COVID-19 is the disease caused by a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. The World Health Organization first learned of this new virus on December 31, 2019, after a report of a cluster of "viral pneumonia" cases in Wuhan, the People's Republic of China.
Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment. Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness.
The most common symptom of COVID-19 is
dry cough, fatigue and Other less common symptoms that may affect some patients include:
Loss of the sense of taste and smell, Nasal congestion, Conjunctivitis (also known as red eyes), Sore throat, a headache, Muscle or joint pain, Different types of rashes, Nausea or vomiting, Chills or dizziness.
And These symptoms are different for one person to another.
What is Vaccine?
Immunity: Protection from an infectious disease.
Vaccine: A product that stimulates a person’s immune system to produce immunity to a specific disease, protecting the person from that disease. Vaccines are usually administered through needle injections, but can also be administered by mouth or sprayed into the nose.
Vaccination Process: The act of introducing a vaccine into the body to produce immunity to a specific disease.
Immunization: The act of introducing a vaccine into the body to produce immunity to a specific disease.
How does the vaccine work?
Now that we know the vaccine and its many parts, we will now talk about how it works inside our bodies.
But before talking about how the Covid-19 vaccine works, we must know how our bodies deal with diseases and how our immune system works with diseases.
When germs, such as the virus that causes COVID-19, invade our bodies, they attack and multiply. This invasion, called an infection, is what causes illness. Our immune system uses several tools to fight infection. Blood contains red cells, which carry oxygen to tissues and organs, and white or immune cells, which fight infection. Different types of white blood cells fight infection in different ways:
- Macrophages: are white blood cells that swallow up and digest germs and dead or dying cells
- B-lymphocytes: are defensive white blood cells. They produce antibodies that attack the pieces of the virus left behind by the macrophages.
- T-lymphocytes: are another type of defensive white blood cell. They attack cells in the body that have already been infected.
The first time a patient is infected with the virus, Covid-19, the body takes a period until the body uses all its strength to overcome the infection. This period ranges from several days to two weeks.
Now is the time to know how the vaccine works in our bodies to defeat the virus.
COVID-19 vaccines help our bodies develop immunity to the virus that causes COVID-19 without us having to get the illness. Different types of vaccines work in different ways to offer protection, but with all types of vaccines, the body is left with a supply of “memory” T-lymphocytes as well as B-lymphocytes that will remember how to fight that virus in the future.
It typically takes a few weeks for the body to produce T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes after vaccination. Therefore, it is possible that a person could be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 just before or just after vaccination and then get sick because the vaccine did not have enough time to provide protection.
Sometimes after vaccination, the process of building immunity can cause symptoms, such as fever. These symptoms are normal and are a sign that the body is building immunity.
What Types of Vaccines?
There are many vaccines that have been proposed to overcome this virus, according to Nature magazine, specifically in January of 2021, there are more than 300 vaccine projects. Over 40 are now undergoing clinical evaluation, ten of these are in Phase III clinical trials, three of them have ended Phase III with positive results. A few of these new vaccines are being approved for emergency use.
But as we mentioned earlier, we will talk about only 3 types of them:
- mRNA vaccines: contain material from the virus that causes COVID-19 that gives our cells instructions for how to make a harmless protein that is unique to the virus. After our cells make copies of the protein, they destroy the genetic material from the vaccine. Our bodies recognize that the protein should not be there and build T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes that will remember how to fight the virus that causes COVID-19 if we are infected in the future.
- Protein subunit vaccines: include harmless pieces (proteins) of the virus that causes COVID-19 instead of the entire germ. Once vaccinated, our bodies recognize that the protein should not be there and build T-lymphocytes and antibodies that will remember how to fight the virus that causes COVID-19 if we are infected in the future.
Vector vaccines: contain a modified version of a different virus than the one that causes COVID-19. Inside the shell of the modified virus, there is material from the virus that causes COVID-19. This is called a “viral vector.” Once the viral vector is inside our cells, the genetic material gives cells instructions to make a protein that is unique to the virus that causes COVID-19. Using these instructions, our cells make copies of the protein. This prompts our bodies to build T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes that will remember how to fight that virus if we are infected in the future.
Why do people experience side effects from COVID-19 vaccines?
that we get, like influenza and COVID-19, are actually not caused by the direct action of the virus, but rather by our immune system. Our bodies react, and that gives us these general symptoms.
What are Common side effects of vaccine?
Covid vaccine side effects
- Redness
- Swelling
- Tiredness
- Headache
- Chills
- Fever
- Nause
What can we do to reduce the side effects of treatment?
- Do not overdress children or babies if they are hot.
- Put a cold wet cloth on the injection site to ease discomfort.
Do younger people have stronger side effects than older people?
“It’s not a huge difference, but there is a slight difference”
Younger clinical trial participants — those ages 18 to 64 — reported side effects like pain at the injection site or headaches about 8% to 10% more frequently than clinical trial participants who were 65 and older,
two theories that explain different side effects to COVID-19 vaccines by age (or perceived side effects to the placebo).
Older people generally have weaker immune systems, so when an older person receives a vaccine, their response might not be as vigorous. Another theory is that younger people haven’t experienced as much illness or pain in their lives. So, it’s possible that they notice pain at the injection site or chills and muscle aches more than an older person would.
“It could be that younger people think more (about possible side effects) and tune in more to them. It could be that pain thresholds change with age
I’m concerned about side effects. Should I still get a vaccine for COVID-19?
Yes, get your vaccine, other medical experts say.
“Everyone should get their vaccine as soon as it is offered to them. Getting the vaccine is the best way to protect yourself against severe and potentially life-threatening illnesses from COVID-19,
“If you don’t get the vaccine, you will remain susceptible to COVID-19, and COVID-19 is not going to go away. It’s going to be here for the rest of human history. The only way to protect yourself is to get a vaccine. Don’t rely on natural infection. You can have bad consequences both in the short term and the long term,”
advises people to be aware of side effects, but not to worry too much about them.
“These side effects can make people feel sick in some cases. But, they don’t last that long. There have not been any long-term side effects that can be attributed to these vaccines, whereas some people with mild cases of COVID-19 can get very debilitating long-term symptoms. Those are symptoms that these vaccines prevent,”
Authors:
- Hajar Abu al-Khair
- Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud
References:
[2] https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19
[3] https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/imz-basics.htm
[4] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/how-they-work.html
[5] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41418-020-00720-9
[6] https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/side-effects-of-covid-19-vaccines
[7] https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/coronavirus-vaccine/
[8] https://www.uchealth.org/today/covid-19-side-effects-are-normal-what-to-expect-when-you-get-your-vaccine/
[9] https://www.nhsinform.scot/covid-19-vaccine/the-vaccines/side-effects-of-the-coronavirus-vaccines