Matt Hancock discusses ‘booster shots’
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
A drop-off in antibody levels after a second dose of the vaccine has informed the recommendation of a third booster shot for over-50s and younger adults with health conditions in the UK. Invitations to book the third coronavirus vaccine will today be sent out to more than a million Britons in a bid to “strengthen the wall of defence” against COVID-19 created by the vaccine. Higher protection in vulnerable groups offers hope of avoiding a spike in hospital admissions during the approaching winter months. In new data submitted to the Food and Drug Administrations [FDA], Pfizer has outlined the different side effects to expect from a third dose of their vaccine.
Data submitted to the Food and Drug Administrations [FDA] shows that the side effects after the second dose of vaccine are more likely to affect younger people.
The latest statistics come from a study that drew data from 300 participants aged between 18 and 55.
Of the sample population, the researchers found that 63.7 percent of recipients experienced fatigue after getting their boosters.
A further 48.4 percent had headaches, and 39.1 percent experienced muscle pains.
READ MORE: Booster jab invites sent out as 1.5m prepare for winter – will you get one?
The majority of the recorded side effects ranged from mild to moderate.
Experts studying 306 booster recipients found that 44 of them developed an unexpected side effect, reported Texas Breaking.
The most unexpected side effect observed was the swelling of lymph nodes, which appeared in 16 of the 306 participants.
Five percent of the study subjects who experienced swollen lymph nodes were women, the drugmaker said.
The side effect appeared within four days of the shot, and all but one case of the condition were considered mild.
When researchers compared these side effects with those of second-dose recipients, they noted the booster shot’s side effects were similar.
A prior study on second-dose recipients aged between 16 and 55 had found that 61.5 percent developed fatigue, 54 percent suffered headaches and 39.3 percent had muscle pains.
The FDA has not yet commented on the findings submitted by the drugmaker.
Pfizer’s application to administer a third dose of its vaccine to people 16 and across the US was voted against by an advisory committee for the FDA.
Committee members on the advisory panel for the FDA expressed scepticism that Pfizer had provided adequate data supporting the need for the boosters in the general population in the US.
The panel argued that there wasn’t enough data on the safety of booster shots among younger people, who are more susceptible to side effects from the vaccines such as myocarditis.
The panel thereafter voted to limit the use of boosters among populations that are more at risk of breakthrough infections.
It unanimously recommended a ‘booster dose’ to people older than 65 and at higher risk of severe COVID-19.
The FDA is expected to make a final decision in the wake of the committee’s non binding vote.
The matter will thereafter be turned over to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who will meet next week to decide when to roll out the boosters and to whom.
The panel dealt a blow to President Joe Biden’s plan to begin rolling out COVID-19 booster shots to most Americans as from next week.
Source: Read Full Article