Covid Vaccination news
We continue to immunise our older patients and are presently working through our over 80 year olds. We have given over 300 shots now and have been pleased with the uptake. We understand that there is a long way to go and thankyou again for your patience. If you are 80 or over please ring for a vaccination appointment.
The vaccines have now been given to over 300 million people worldwide and to over 840 thousand Australians. These are excellent vaccinations that massively reduce the effects of COVID-19 infection. That needs to be remembered both when we read about the short-term potential side-effects but particularly when we note that when international borders open up, COVID will become part of the ‘normal’ Australian viral environment. Vaccination represents our best chance of mitigating its effects.
The COVID vaccination is not free of side-effects. These include a sore arm at the injection site which may swell and become red (not dissimilar to what the flu shot can cause), fatigue, muscle aches and joint pains, fevers, feeling lousy, headaches and nausea. Sounds like an impressive list but most people don’t get side-effects and those that do usually only suffer for a day or two.
Some fewer people will experience more significant flu-like symptoms from the vaccine compared to other common vaccinations, and may need time away from normal activities. For the Pfizer (COMIRNATY) vaccine, used for stage 1a people, these symptoms are more common after the second dose. For the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is what all in stage 1b will get, these symptoms are more common after the first dose.
It appears that older people have less side-effects than the younger age groups.
The information on health.gov.au is updated regularly and is recommended. Common vaccine questions are posed and answered; we again urge readers to take advantage of this resource. Accurate information is needed to help ensure we get as many people vaccinated as possible. We will continue to update readers on this site as well as our facebook site and The Mirror as we progress through the rollout.