Vaccination side-effects cause concerns for the new availability to ages 16 years and older

Vaccination side-effects cause concerns for the new availability to ages 16 years and older

With the ever increasing and changing Covid-19 virus that is starting to affect younger people more seriously, health officials are saying it’s more important than ever to become fully vaccinated to safeguard the community.

College students, and anyone ages 16 and up, can now receive Covid-19 vaccinations as of April 19. In spite of several vaccinations to choose from, the population faces some concerns over side-effects from the vaccines.

Each vaccine, the Pfizer-BioNTech for ages 16 and older, the Moderna for ages 18 and older, and the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen for ages 18 and older, presents similar side-effects of arm pain at injection site, fatigue, headache, chills, joint pain, muscle aches, and slight fever.

However, the J&J/Janssen vaccine may cause more serious issues, mostly for women under the age of 50. “There is a plausible causal relationship between J&J/Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine and a rare and serious adverse event—blood clots with low platelets (thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, or TTS),” says the CDC website.

Most of these issues should last no longer than a day or two. Of the several UCC people interviewed, four were affected for about a day, one affected for about two days, and one affected for three or more days.

The CDC recommends seeking medical attention if redness or soreness increase around the injection site after 24 hours or if side-effects don’t go away within a few days.

The CDC advises people who receive the J&J/Janssen to watch for symptoms of TTS including headaches and blurry vision, shortness of breath, chest pain, leg swelling, abdominal pain, and visible signs near the injection site. If any of these prolonged symptoms occur, vaccinated people should contact medical help.

This concern about TTS paused the use of the vaccine for a while, but the CDC believes that the benefits far outweigh the concerns as so far this problem has only occurred for every 7 out of 1 million women under the age of 50. Older women and men of all ages have a much lower chance of developing TTS, and the CDC stated that every vaccine is safe and effective with no one brand of vaccine better than another.

For the UCC community that was surveyed, pain seemed to be an issue for only one person.

For people who aren’t currently vaccinated, the Oregon Health Authority provides help in discovering pharmacies and other locations or events to set up a vaccination appointment. The website contains a search bar for the brand of vaccine and the general area.

However, considering all but the J&J/Janssen vaccine require two shots, people may consider planning ahead for their second dose. The CDC suggests receiving the vaccines within two to three weeks apart from each other. The second shot of the Pfizer and Moderna and the single shot of the J&J/Janssen also take about two weeks to reach their effectiveness.

Even after receiving the shot, vaccinated people should be cautious. With new variants of disease on the rise, “[w]e aren’t at the finish line,” said President Joe Biden in an AP News article. “We still have a lot of work to do. We’re still in a life and death race against this virus, new variants of the virus are spreading and they’re moving quickly. Cases are going back up, hospitalizations are no longer declining.”

To learn more on vaccine side-effects and information, visit the CDC website.

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