A new Danish study following more than 90,000 people has found that for the overwhelming majority, Covid-19 vaccines are not linked to long-term, non-specific symptoms.
Researchers divided participants into three groups based on their attitude toward vaccination: unconcerned, skeptical, and worried.
Among the first two groups, which made up 95 percent of all participants, there was no difference in the number of symptoms reported between vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
"However, we cannot completely rule out that a smaller group of people who are already concerned about the vaccine may experience such symptoms after vaccination." said Christina Bisgaard Jensen, a PhD student at Aarhus University’s Department of Public Health and lead author of the study.
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When worry turns into physical sensations
In the smaller group of worried participants, around five percent, vaccinated individuals more often reported symptoms such as headache, dizziness, and shortness of breath compared to their unvaccinated peers.
According to the researchers, this may be explained by the so-called nocebo effect.
It is the opposite of the placebo effect, where negative expectations about a treatment can cause real physical symptoms.
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Although the pandemic has ended, vaccination against Covid-19 continues, and concerns about side effects remain common.
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The researchers note that vague symptoms such as fatigue or headache rarely appear in health registers because they often do not lead to a medical diagnosis.
According to the researchers, the insights from the study are important for creating a more balanced public discussion, not by dismissing people’s experiences, but by highlighting the many factors that can play a role.
Source: Press release from Via Ritzau, and International Journal of Epidemiology.
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