COVID-19: Pfizer vaccine volunteers claim side-effects; report fever, hangover, body pain

Days after COVID-19 vaccine candidate Pfizer showed 90% efficacy in stopping infections, reports have now come to the fore highlighting the vaccine's possible side-effects. As per a report in the Daily Mail, several volunteers who were given the shot complained of side effects like headache and fever, allegedly becoming 'more severe' with each passing shot. 

A 45-year-old volunteer revealed that she suffered side-effects similar to a 'flu jab', while another 44-year-old participant shared that the vaccine caused a 'severe hangover'. Another woman, a publicist from Missouri complained of suffering headache, fever, and aches 'all over her body' after her first shot, which were 'more severe', after she took the second, a month later. The symptoms however have been reported to quickly clear up, as per the report. 

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Pfizer 90% effective in interim analysis 

Developed with the German partner BioNTech SE, Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine was declared effective against SARS-CoV-2 by the independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) in an analysis conducted on November 8, 2020. On November 10, Pfizer Inc announced that its mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate which was found 90 per cent effective in the first interim analysis from Phase III study, will be distributed in December across the US.

US’ top infectious diseases expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, meanwhile, said at a presser that the first doses of a safe and effective vaccine will be available for high-risk Americans in late December. The pharmaceutical firm confirmed that it reached an agreement to provides a supply of 200 million doses and an additional 100 million doses of its BNT162B2 MRNA-based vaccine to European countries. 

The recent findings are based on an interim analysis conducted after 94 participants contracted COVID-19. According to a Bloomberg report, the trial will continue until 164 cases have occurred. If the data hold up and the key safety readout Pfizer expects in about a week also looks good, it could mean the world has a vital new tool to control the pandemic.

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