In fact, a rare side effect of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine could be a good sign, according to health experts.
Some recipients have reported experiencing a ‘Covid arm’, in which people experience itchy and swollen skin, sometimes accompanied by red bumps or hives.
But the stain is a harmless immune system response to the shot that fades within a week.
Dr. In fact, Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, says such a response is an indication that your body is speeding up to prevent a possible infection in the future.
Some patients have reported a rare side effect called ‘COVID arm’ that appears as a red and swollen spot, which often feels painful after receiving the Moderna vaccine.
Health officials say the rash appears harmless and often goes away on its own within a few days with treatments such as ice and Tylenol
Chin-Hong said the responses should not be a cause for concern, but rather a “ celebration. ”
“The first reason to celebrate is the response you feel is your immune system working and getting ready to protect you,” he said.
“The second reason to celebrate is that it goes away and doesn’t really stick.”
The official term used by dermatologists and allergists to describe the side effect is ‘delayed skin hypersensitivity’.
Cutaneous means that the skin is affected, hypersensitivity means an unwanted reaction produced by the immune system and delayed as it usually occurs days after the injection is given.
An infectious disease specialist said the side effect (photo) is a good sign as the immune system is increasing and is being trained to fight the infection
The rash is usually red and swollen, and sometimes painful to the touch, and always appears on the arm where the vaccine was given.
Such reactions have also been found in people who have received tetanus vaccines, the chicken pox vaccine and the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine.
But the COVID arm has only occurred in people who received Moderna’s COIVD-19 vaccine, not Pfizer’s, and has been reported in their clinical studies.
Chin-Hong told DailyMail.com that he compares the side effect to the immune system in a military-style boot camp.
‘The boot camp is a gradual process. In the beginning, the antibodies or the cells of the combatant soldiers that you develop are not fully trained, ”he said
“Then they get trained and in that training process they get very excited, anxious or angry because they work hard and get really good over time.”
That ‘angry’ feeling of the soldier can manifest itself as a COVID arm, but eventually disappears on its own.
Chin-Hong says this is the immune system to be prepared for if you actually become infected with the coronavirus.
“So if you get the second chance, they’re all ready to attack this thing that looks like what they’ve been training for all their lives,” he said.
‘But then it’s not the real COVID, so they just goo back in base. ‘
He did say that if people don’t experience the reaction, then there is no need to panic, because in clinical trials, half of the participants did not experience any side effects.
“If you don’t get it, it doesn’t mean your immune system isn’t working,” he explained.
If you experience a reaction, try moving your house or using a warm compress and, if those don’t work, take Tylenol or ibuprofen.
Most of all, though, Chin-Hong says whether your response is headache or COVID-poor, it is better than the long-term effects of COVID-19.
From the most common things to things unrelated to the vaccine, it’s a lot easier to get something and deal with it temporarily instead of the longer-acting effects of COVID and the uncertainty of how sick you’ll get and the potential long-distance syndrome, in which the symptoms last for months and months and months, ”he said.
