Jae-gap Lee, Professor of Infectious Medicine, Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Hospital, and Jae-Hoon Jung, Professor of Preventive Medicine, Gachon University. Hankook Ilbo data photo
While vaccination for the prevention of novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) was started, 1.2% reported adverse reactions after vaccination, and 11 cases died after vaccination. Holding it.
Even in the politics, targeting a specific vaccine, there is a remark that “the side effects are severe even in the younger people (Ho-Young Joo, the representative of the hospital)”, and news came out that the vaccination was temporarily suspended in Austria because of deaths and severe infections.
However, infectious disease experts who have been communicating with the public continuously are drawing a line on’vaccine anxiety’. They explained that the mild adverse reaction after vaccination proves the ability of the vaccine to form immunity, and that death after vaccination is difficult to say that there is a causal relationship with the vaccine.
Based on an interview with Professor Jae-hoon Jeong, a preventive medicine professor at Gachon University, who appeared in MBC’s’Kim Jong-bae’s Gaze’ on the 9th, and Jae-gap Lee, a professor of infectious medicine at Gangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University, who appeared on the CBS’Kim Hyun-jung’s News Show’ on the same day, The responses to the controversy are summarized by topic as follows.
Adverse reaction: “meaning better performance than past vaccines”
Song Young-gu, director of Gangnam Severance Hospital, is receiving a new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine in the hospital hall on the 9th. Provided by Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonhap News
Prof. Jaehun Jung said, “There is a lot more mild adverse reactions than existing vaccines in both AstraZeneca (AZ) and Pfizer vaccines. This is not a problem with the vaccine, but we “It is a proof that the body is making immunity well, and it means that it has better performance than past vaccines.”
Professor Jae-gap Lee also said that abnormal reactions such as muscle pain, fever, and headache after the vaccine for Corona 19 are “a natural reaction that occurs after getting the vaccine.” “If it goes for a long time or if it is too severe, it is considered a serious adverse reaction, but now it is usually at a level that recovers within a day or two, or relieves symptoms of antipyretic drugs, so I think it is mild.” “Rather, the vaccine immune response occurs well in my body. Is a signal,” he said.
Professor Lee said that the Corona 19 vaccine is evaluated as being’toxic’ compared to the existing flu vaccine. “In the case of the flu vaccine, the antigen itself is an antigen with weak immunity, and in the case of the AZ vaccine, adenovirus (included in the AZ vaccine, “The antigen carrier virus, which is harmless to humans, does not cause serious infections in humans, but because it has entered the body, the immune response can occur well in the early stages.”
Conversely, in the case of mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer, the immune response of the first vaccination is not large, but the immune response of the second vaccination may be large, he added.
Professor Lee urged them not to hesitate to report any adverse reactions after vaccination. He explained, “If you feel it is difficult, you can report it, and if you report it in situations where you need compensation, such as hospitalization or emergency room use, you can get compensation.”
He also said, “It is rather helpful to report a lot of adverse reactions,” he said. “There is no need to be reluctant to report because we can provide statistics on adverse reactions in our country and this may be the main data.”
Death after vaccination: “No proven causal relationship to vaccine”
On the afternoon of the 3rd, at a nursing facility in Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, officials, including the police forensic investigation team, are busily moving to investigate cases of death after vaccination against the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19). Experts explain that there have been no cases of the vaccine acting as the cause of death after vaccination. Goyang = News 1
There are cases of severe adverse reactions after receiving the Corona 19 vaccine, and deaths after vaccination have been reported, but experts say that a causal relationship such as a life-threatening effect due to the effects of the vaccine itself has not yet been proven. It’s an explanation.
Professor Lee Jae-gap said, “Even though the natural immune response that occurs when the vaccine occurs, if it affects death, there is little causal relationship, so it is also known as’contribution death’ as a causal relationship.” “Death after a known vaccination is not such a causal relationship,” he said.
The reason that’death after vaccination’ is mistaken for’death due to vaccination’, that is, has a causal relationship, is a case in which chronically ill patients admitted to nursing hospitals and nursing facilities rapidly deteriorate and die due to the nature of the disease. This is because the timing accidentally overlaps with vaccination.
According to the two professors, in order to solve this problem, experts use statistical analysis to see if there is really a causal relationship. Professor Jeong Jae-hoon said, “It is necessary to check whether the mortality rate under 65 years of age has increased significantly after vaccination in nursing hospitals. If the mortality rate reported in nursing hospitals increased after vaccination, this could be considered to be the effect of the vaccine. , (In a domestic case) we will be able to confirm in about a month whether or not there is such a pattern.
However, apart from the country that recently started vaccination, there is no statistics on the number of deaths suddenly increasing when looking at data from the United States and the United Kingdom, which have already been vaccinated in large quantities of Corona 19 vaccines such as AZ, Pfizer, and Modena. Professor Lee said, “In the US alone, 200 people died in a report in mid-January, and 122 people died in nursing homes and nursing hospitals, but it was judged that there was no statistical validity.” did.
Experts believe that the possibility of confirming a causal relationship with vaccines is low in the current domestic death cases. Professor Jeong said, “In order to prove the causal relationship between vaccine and death, you can first suspect anaphylaxis (hypersensitivity reaction to a specific influx of substances). Otherwise, we will look for other causes of death through an autopsy, etc., In eight of the cases, experts judged that the direct relevance of the vaccine was inferior.”
Patients with underlying diseases: “Recommended vaccination when you are in good condition”
On the morning of the 9th, a patient, child, and daughter-in-law in their 90s at Gangnam Nursing Hospital in Dong-gu, Gwangju, are visiting non-face-to-face with a transparent screen in between. Experts say that vaccination needs to be given priority because elderly patients in nursing hospitals are at high risk. Gwangju = Yonhap News
Among critically ill patients, there is a possibility that they cannot tolerate the natural immune response from the Corona 19 vaccine, considering the remission of the underlying disease. In this case, the vaccination can be delayed at the discretion of the medical staff. However, in the case of critically ill patients whose immune response is not fatal, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, who do not do so, he said that the vaccination should be hurriedly.
Professor Jeong Jae-hoon said, “For those patients with a short lifespan, such as critically ill patients with a fever and shortness of breath, patients with terminal cancer, etc., the government is also telling us to carefully decide whether or not to receive vaccination. It is because there is no benefit from vaccination,” he said. “It is not so. In the case of the underlying disease, the benefit from vaccination is overwhelmingly greater than the damage,” he said.
Professor Jae-gap Lee also said, “It can be said that the vaccination should not be given when the chronic disease is in an acute exacerbation system or when the person is in very bad condition. It can be quite difficult if you get it in a bad condition. “I have.”
However, if not, he stressed, “If you are infected with Corona 19, people who are old and have underlying diseases are at risk of going seriously when infected with Corona 19, so they should be vaccinated.”
AstraZeneca Vaccine: “Already Proven Effectively”
A bottle containing AstraZeneca Corona 19 vaccine stored in a vaccine center in Rome, Italy. AstraZeneca vaccine has been reported to prove its effectiveness in the UK. Rome = AFP Yonhap News
The Oxford-AstraZeneca (AZ) COVID-19 vaccine was judged to have no safety issues, but due to the lack of clinical procedures, controversy over its effectiveness caused vaccination restrictions in some countries. According to the decision of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Korea is currently not vaccinating people over the age of 65. However, this was a preventive measure to reduce distrust in vaccines rather than doubts about the safety and effectiveness itself.
The two experts said, “We expect to expand the AZ vaccine to vaccinations over 65 years old soon.” Professor Lee Jae-gap said, “The main reason for the delay in vaccination of the AZ vaccine over the age of 65 is that the effect of the vaccine for over 65 years has not been clearly presented. If you see the results of vaccinations in Scotland, especially in the 70s and 80s, The preventive effect is quite good, and it has been proven to be effective for hospitalization and severe illness.”
Professor Jeong Jae-hoon said, “The controversy about the AZ vaccine was not about safety, and the reason for the lack of evidence for its effectiveness. In the UK, the evidence for the effect was completely secured with the data on the effect of the entire population of millions of people.” I don’t think there is a problem.”
Infection after vaccination: “Immune effects do not appear immediately”
On the 9th, at the screening clinic in the National Medical Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, medical staff are moving the corona19 confirmed person to a mobile CT scanning site. News 1
On the other hand, a total of three cases of infection with Corona 19 after vaccination were reported, including two nurses who were caring for patients with mild Corona 19 at the National Medical Center. This is because it takes a certain amount of time for the immunity effect from vaccination to appear.
Professor Lee Jae-gap said, “There are cases that have been reported even during actual clinical studies,” he said. “It may have been inoculated in the incubation period before the symptoms of Corona 19 appeared, and there is a possibility that the test was confirmed late because it is asymptomatic.” In addition, immediately after vaccination, “because it is before the effect of vaccination appears, it is a situation that can appear of course,” he said.
Professor Jeong Jae-hoon also said, “Since it takes about two weeks for the vaccine to be effective after vaccination, it should be considered that there is no protective effect immediately after vaccination.” “Even after vaccination, quarantine measures such as social distancing or wearing a mask must be maintained.” said.
Hyunwoo In reporter [email protected]
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