A PROMINENT virologist said today (June 11) that the side effects of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine are showing up more frequently among young people and women while the Sinovac vaccine has fewer of these after-effects, Thai Rath newspaper said.
Dr Yong Poovorawan, head of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, said in an online post that initially Sinovac was more widely administered with AstraZeneca being used among the elderly. Going forward AstraZeneca will be the main vaccine with Sinovac being the accompaniment.
The centre’s study of the two vaccines, which has been given to all age groups from 18 years upwards, shows that Sinovac has fewer side effects especially in terms of fever, pain at the injection site, flu-like aches and pains and headaches.
Those who got AstraZeneca shots were given paracetamol and sent home.
The centre’s comparative study shows the difference between the two with AstraZeneca side effects showing up more in young people than the elderly and women more so than men.
This result is no different than what was found overseas, especially in the mRNA group of vaccines.
As for the Sinovac vaccine, these side effects are much less. Therefore, people who have been vaccinated with AstraZeneca can come down with fever or headache, diarrhea, vomiting, body aches and flu-like symptoms.
He recommended that those who have got the jab and start having these effects should start taking paracetamol every four to six hours and not wait for the fever to rise or body aches and pains to set in. The aftereffects should go away in a day or two.
Should symptoms such as high fever and headache persist for several days then people should consult their doctor.
Dr Yong adds that both virus vector or mRNA vaccines have more side effects than inactivated ones with this based on empirical evidence.
Meanwhile the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said at 12.30 p.m. today that there were 2,290 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours and 27 more fatalities taking the death toll since the start of the pandemic to 1,402 and in the current wave that started in April to 1,308, Amarin TV said.
This raised the cumulative confirmed total since the start of the pandemic to 189,828 and in the current wave 160,965.
Another 5,711 patients were cured, taking total recoveries since the start of the pandemic to 144,998 and 117,572 in the current wave. Altogether 43,428 patients are still undergoing treatment with 1,287 in serious condition and 352 requiring ventilators.
Of today’s new batch of cases, 1,966 emerged in surveillance and service systems, 294 in prisons and detention centres while 30 overseas arrivals were quarantined.
An update of total vaccination was also given as follows:
– Another 177,353 people got the first jab, taking the total to 4,143,444;
– An additional 45,962 people got their second jab, with 1,523,614 having been fully inoculated.
CAPTION:
Top: A test tube labelled vaccine is seen in front of AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken on September 9, 2020. Photo: Reuters/ Dado Ruvic and published by CNBC
Home Page: Dr Yong Poovorawan. Photo: Thai Rath
