A large study of 99 million vaccinated people across 8 countries found the COVID vaccines were linked to slight increases in some rare medical issues.
MRNA vaccines increased risks of myocarditis, while viral-vector vaccines increased risks of blood clots and Guillain-Barre syndrome.
“The size of the population in this study increased the possibility of identifying rare potential vaccine safety signals,” lead author Kristýna Faksová of the Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut said.
“Single sites or regions are unlikely to have a large enough population to detect very rare signals.”
However, doctors said these risks are still far lower than risks from COVID itself and that the vaccine decreases COVID risks like myocarditis.
While acknowledging vaccines have side effects, they emphasized it’s important to carefully weigh the rare risks from vaccination against the risks of the virus.
“The massive study and review of the data reveals some rare association of the MRNA vaccines and myocarditis, especially after the second shot, as well as an association between the Oxford Astra Zeneca adenovirus vector vaccines and Guillain Barre syndrome,” Dr. Marc Siegel said.
“But these risks are rare,” he added, “and other studies show that the vaccine decreases the risk of myocarditis from COVID itself dramatically.”
“It always comes down to a risk/benefit analysis of what you are more afraid of — the vaccine’s side effects or the virus itself, which can have long-term side effects in terms of brain fog, fatigue, cough and also heart issues,” he said.
“Denying or exaggerating a vaccine’s side effects is not good science — nor is underestimating the risks of the virus, especially in high-risk groups,” Siegel added.
“It comes down to a risk/benefit analysis of what you are more afraid of — the vaccine’s side effects or the virus itself.”
“This study does not really change anything; it just provides much further evidence of what we already know,” he said.
The study confirms previous findings on rare side effects but shows getting vaccinated remains much safer overall.
It provides further evidence while not changing recommendations since COVID poses greater health dangers.
“This study is confirming in a much larger cohort what has been previously identified in the original studies during the pandemic — myocarditis and pericarditis as a rare side effect of mRNA vaccines and clots as a rare side effect of the viral vectored vaccines,” CEO of Centivax Dr. Jacob Glanville said.
“The odds of all of these adverse events are still much, much higher when infected with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), so getting vaccinated is still by far the safer choice.”
Most Popular:
FBI Informant Who Criticized Biden Gets Bad News
Drag Queen Principal Learns His Fate Amid Controversy
