Millions of Americans are now vaccinated against covid-19 on average every day, and many people have shared with pride their vaccination status on social media, others will describe their vaccination status mild but certainly noticeable side effects immediately afterwards as a badge of honor, such as a painful arm or flu-like fatigue. But not all post-vaccination symptoms will necessarily be due to the vaccine – some may even be caused by the evil twin of the placebo effect.
Just to clarify in advance, there is nothing wrong with experiencing side effects after vaccination, regardless of the reason. In any case, these side effects are an indication that the body’s immune system is gaining momentum as it learns to recognize what the coronavirus looks like after getting a blueprint of its appearance from the vaccine (usually its spike protein, that the virus uses to infect cells). This immune response is what tends to explain symptoms such as fever, fatigue, and general pain for a day or two after you get a vaccine. Usually, but not always.
Let’s take another look at it data from clinical trials for the two-dose mRNA vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, the first to reach the US public last December. The data, based on more than 30,000 volunteers, shows that it is a safe and effective vaccine, but not free from side effects. About 84% had injection site reactions such as pain or itching in the week after taking a dose; 63% experienced fatigue; 55% had headaches.
By just looking at those numbers, it makes sense that most people who get the vaccine will feel something. But amazingly, in the same trial, a significant portion of the people who got the placebo injection got also experienced some of these symptoms. After the first placebo injection, about a third of the people reported fatigue and about a third with a headacheNearly 12% of those who received placebo also experienced diarrhea after the first injection, more than the vaccinated group after both doses. As a reminder, the people on the placebo only received a shot of saline, also known as salt and water.
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Some of these people who received the placebo injection may have experienced fatigue, headaches, or diarrhea that day, no matter what, even if they hadn’t been in the process – a topic Gizmodo has covered recently before. Unfortunately, these are very common conditions, caused by many different things. But some may only have experienced them because of something we call the ‘nocebo effect’. Just as our positive expectations can make us feel better after taking a new potential treatment, our negative expectations can do the opposite and make us feel sad. On Twitter, some even have allowed to feeling worse after taking the placebo than after taking the real product later.
There is a tendency to dismiss the placebo / nocebo effect as simply a product of the mind. But every sensation we experience is eventually processed in the mind, so that doesn’t really say much at all. Sometimes this feeling can be traced back to a strictly physical cause – a hot stove touched – and sometimes it is more complicated. The stress someone might feel when taking a newly developed vaccine, or even taking a vaccine in general, if they hate needles, could certainly be enough to cause a headache or get them to the point. point of fatigue to wear out.
None of this is unusual in the slightest, it is just human nature. And while it should go without saying, the origin of a person’s pain, nocebo or not, reduces the need to recognize that pain and try to fix it, if possible. But the placebo / nocebo effect is one of the many reasons we need carefully planned research, such as controlled clinical trials, to better understand the world around us. This is especially important for identifying the potential benefits and risks of a new drug or vaccine. Fortunately, in the case of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine and other similar vaccines, their benefits are in protecting us from serious illness and death become clearer every day, especially in countries where vaccination is high.
So go ahead and get vaccinated as soon as possible. Keep in mind that your drowsiness after the admission may not be are of most obvious cause.