Latest Vaccine Side Effects Snapshot

Danish Medicines Agency releases latest report

The Danish Medicines Agency has released its latest report on vaccination side effects in Denmark. 

Note: The report covers a time period prior to the AstraZeneca drama of last week.

The agency says since its last update it has recieved another 1,256 reports of side effects after Pfizer BioNTech vaccinations. It says the vast majority were “mild and moderate” reactions to be expected when getting vaccinated. 47 were considered “severe allergic reactions” including 27 classified as being anaphylactic.

The mild reactions included the usual culprits like pain at the injections site, headaches, fatigue, and a fever all of which dissipated after a day or two. 

For the more severe reactions most were treated at the vaccination site while some were briefly hospitalized. 

The Danish Medicines Agency’s continued preliminary assessment is that “anaphylactic reactions occur more frequently than expected.”

It has also investigated 39 reports of deaths after being vaccinated. The agency concludes “in all 39 cases it is less likely that there is a connection with the vaccine, and that it is overwhelmingly probable that the deaths are due to other conditions.” 

The Moderna vaccine continues to see extremely low numbers of reported side effects with just 28 more since the Danish Medicines Agencies last update. It also has far less total vaccinations out of the three corona vaccines in use in Denmark.

All but one of the adverse reactions were considered mild with expected symptoms like fatigue, headache, fever, and pain and itching at the injection site. The agency says in all cases the symptoms disappeared after a day or two. 

It reported one case of vaccine related anaphylaxis after a first shot of the Moderna vaccine. 

There has yet to be any reports of fatalities after vaccinations. 

AstraZeneca has been in use for just six weeks in Denmark, much less than either Pfizer or Moderna, but with 12.867 total reported side effects to date it has much more than either Pfizer (8,032) or Moderna (215). 

The Danish Medicines Agency has processed another 383 reported side effects in the last reporting period. It says the vast majority were expected symptoms like fever, headache, chills, and muscle and joint pain all of which went away after a day or two. 

Six cases were classified as severe allergic reactions with five being classified as as anaphylaxis. All six severe reactions resulted in a short stay in hospital.