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Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine side effects feel like a “severe hangover”

pharmafile | November 12, 2020 | News story | Business Services COVID, Vaccine, coronavirus 

Clinical trial participants receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine have said it created side effects that felt similar to a “severe hangover.”

A number of participants reported to the Press Association that the side effects they experienced during the trials, which in total included 43,500 volunteers from six countries. Glenn Deshields, a 44 year old man from Texas, said his side effects were similar to a severe hangover. He took an antibody test which showed he had developed antibodies to the virus, which led him to believe he received the vaccine and not a placebo during the study. 

Carrie, a 45-year-old from Missouri, also participated in the trial and said she experienced headache, body aches and a fever after she received the first injection in the study. Carrie said these became worse after the second injection. 

Although these may sound concerning, side effects like these are common in clinical studies. It is currently unknown how many people experienced these exact side effects in the Phase 3 trial, but Pfizer’s Phase 1 and 2 trials have already reported that the vaccine is safe and generally well tolerated. 

Back in August, Pfizer and BioNTech reported that the BNT162b2 vaccine candidate was well tolerated with mild to moderate fever in fewer than 20% of the participants. This was the results of testing the vaccine in groups of participants 18 to 55 years of age and 65 to 85 years of age, who received 10μg, 20μg, or 30μg dose levels of the vaccine on a 2-dose schedule, 21 days apart.

Conor Kavanagh

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