Should you take the COVID vaccine or risk contracting COVID?
Coronavirus vaccines are known to induce mild to moderate side effects. However, in certain cases, adverse reactions may range from blood clots to heart inflammation.
But does that mean we should stop getting ourselves vaccinated and continue living in the fear of contracting the virus? Does it suffice to take all COVID-appropriate measures and remain unvaccinated? And would you rather have a COVID infection than experiencing vaccine side effects? In order to help you find an answer to all these questions, here's a guide to help you understand how COVID infection risk compares to vaccine side effects.
COVID vaccine side effects and breakthrough infections have led to vaccine hesitancy
Rising numbers of breakthrough infections and reports of people experiencing mild to moderate side effects have increased hesitancy toward COVID vaccines in people.
Given that getting your COVID shot is not a mandate, experts and medical professionals have urged people to get themselves vaccinated. While vaccinated people are still susceptible to the virus and can contract it, they are still protected from severe infection risks and less prone to hospitalization.
As far as vaccine side effects are concerned, the majority of the people experience mild symptoms, which fade away in a day or two.
Risk of coronavirus infection outweighs risk from the vaccine
Vaccine hesitancy has remained one of the major challenges during this COVID crisis. Additionally, the Delta variant has posed more dangers and damage in the recent past. That said, getting your COVID vaccines is surely the best possible way to protect yourself from the virus.
However, many continue to remain unvaccinated and believe that the risk of infection is safer than the risks involved in vaccines. But is that really true?
The Study
In a large study consisting of up to 2 million people in Israel, it was found that the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine raises the risk of heart inflammation, swollen lymph nodes and shingles. But in the same study, it was also observed that COVID infection raises the risk of heart inflammation even more along with other complications of blood clots, heart attacks and fatal occurrences.
The study concluded by claiming that the COVID infection risks far outweighs the risk involved in COVID vaccines.
As per the findings, myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation, was linked with both of the mRNA vaccines, made by Moderna and Pfizer.
"The main potential adverse events identified included an excess risk of lymphadenopathy (swelling of the lymph glands), herpes zoster infection (shingles), appendicitis, and myocarditis," the study explained.
"To place these risks in context, we also examined data on more than 240,000 infected persons to estimate the effects of a documented SARS CoV-2 infection on the incidence of the same adverse events," the report further read.
"SARS-CoV-2 infection was not estimated to have a meaningful effect on the incidence of lymphadenopathy, herpes zoster infection, or appendicitis, but it was estimated to result in a substantial excess risk of myocarditis."
It was found that the SARs-COV-2 virus increased the risk of myocarditis in people much more than the vaccines.
Vaccine side effects vs. COVID symptoms: Similarities and differences
Akin to coronavirus infections, vaccines may trigger symptoms that may seem similar to COVID symptoms. Given that coronavirus vaccines are a mimicry of the actual virus, it triggers an immune response that may resemble immune responses triggered by COVID-19 infections, causing similar ailments in the body.
That said, fever, fatigue, chills, joint pain and headache are some of the vaccine side effects that may resemble COVID-19 symptoms and may sometimes fool people into thinking that they may have caught the deadly virus.
However, vaccine side effects last for a short period of time and vanish within a day or two, whereas COVID symptoms may exist long after you have recovered. Certain differentiating symptoms include loss of sense of smell and persistent cough.
Read more: Coronavirus: COVID-19 vaccine side-effects vs. the risk of infection
What you need to know now
While it is important to get your COVID vaccines, it is crucial to know how to manage the various side effects. Considering the rise in the number of Delta variant cases and the lurking dangers of a possible third wave, it is extremely important to get yourselves vaccinated. However, you must learn to deal with post-vaccination side effects.
Vaccine-induced side-effects are mild and usually lead to no physical complications.
Most common side effects experienced by most people are fever, chills, fatigue, malaise, joint pain, headache and in some cases, there are chances of adverse reactions.