Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been the talk of town in many African countries and Europe following the vaccination drives to tame the COVID-19 pandemic.
From safety concerns to discussions over the 79 per cent efficacy on symptomatic cases, countries have been mounting concerns over the suitability of the jab. In South Sudan, 132,000 doses of Astra landed on March 25 and the inoculation process is ongoing. But what can one expect as the common side effects of Astra?
Health Service Executive (HSE)—a medical research-oriented platform—reveals that one person in 10 recipients of the Astra jab may ‘feel tired, tenderness, bruising, pain, redness or itching in the arm where they had the vaccine injection, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, nausea, diarrhoea or vomiting, fever usually 38 degrees Celsius and above.’ These may happen after the first dose.
It adds that other possible side effects in one person in 1,000 recipients maybe ‘reduced appetite, dizziness, sleepiness, sweating, swollen lymph glands and rash.’
Other symptoms that require urgent medical intervention include: ‘breathlessness, pain in the chest or stomach, leg swelling, severe or worsening headache or blurred vision, persistent bleeding, under the skin where there was no previous injury, multiple small bruises, reddish or purplish spots, or blood blisters under the skin.’
According to HSE, less than one in 100,000 people experience blood clots with low platelets. However, European Medicines Agency (EMA) has suggested that the recent cases of blood clots necessitate that the risk needs to be added as possible side effect.