Moderna or AZ

[LimeFizz]

If you could pick would you go for moderna? My local hubs seem to have one of these depending on where you book so I could most probably choose which one to have.

@PissTestRightNowDaniella - oh no! I’m having mine this afternoon. Does your arm really hurt?

I’ve just read there’s a chance of contracting Bells Palsy after Moderna. Apparently it comes on about a month after the jab. Can you imagine?

[quote ThatOtherPoster]@PissTestRightNowDaniella - oh no! I’m having mine this afternoon. Does your arm really hurt?[/quote]
Yes but I'm sure it won't last, it's like it's really stiff.

Don't have it in your 'main' arm like I did (stupidly).

I actually wished I'd had it in my main arm as I forgot that I sleep on my other side. It was a good excuse to do no ironing or housework for 3 days.

I had Moderna at the Etihad on Saturday night - first jab and I'm 48. Would have been happy with any to be honest. V sore arm since, but no other side effects. Have friends in the US who were poorly with the second dose of Moderna, but only lasted a day or so.

@Comefromaway

I actually wished I'd had it in my main arm as I forgot that I sleep on my other side. It was a good excuse to do no ironing or housework for 3 days.

Three days??? I kind of need it back and fully functional for tomorrow 😁

It wouldn't have stopped me writing and didn't stop me typing for example but it hurt to lie on or to lift anything heavy or lift my arm up/reach over to pick my cup of tea up.

@ThatOtherPoster

I’ve just read there’s a chance of contracting Bells Palsy after Moderna. Apparently it comes on about a month after the jab. Can you imagine?

Can you provide evidence for that? A quick look through publicly available scientific research papers suggests that Bells Palsy occurred in people receiving both mRNA vaccines at the same rate as it would occur in the normal population, and in the study cited at least one of the participants who developed Bells Palsy had received the placebo. There is some debate as to whether the results of the studies have been presented in a slightly misleading way - some researchers think the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines do lead to an increased risk, however there is a long-known about risk from flu, and meningococcal vaccines when given in combination with other vaccines too. Covid itself can also cause Bell Palsy (as a direct result of the virus’s effect on the cranial nerve, which is the nerve affected when your sense of smell and taste goes with Covid) and herpes simplex, ie cold sores. The general experience of researchers is that the palsy is usually temporary and goes away on its own.

So, take away points from this - it might be a small risk, but the risk from Covid is greater, and as far as side affects go it’s inconvenient but not deadly, and will probably go away anyway.

Listing potential side effects is simply scaremongering and unhelpful.

I’ll take Bells Palsy as a risk (which is usually temporary) over Covid any day.

It is mentioned on the leaflet you are given though to be fair.

"I’ve just read there’s a chance of contracting Bells Palsy after Moderna."

It would help if you said where you read this. There's a bit of a difference between the BMJ and Take a Break, or The Lancet website and your neighbourhood FB pages.

And who wrote it, on what grounds? With what authority?

@RaspberryPies

I’d prefer Moderna because of the higher efficacy but I had AZ and was grateful for it.

This exactly

@MRex What “similar” cases have you read about with the mRNA vaccinez?

Based on what I have read there have been no cases of thrombocytopenia + CVST in Pfizer/Moderna recipients.

Can you provide evidence for that? A quick look through publicly available scientific research

Yes, I read it in the same publically available research that you did. In my defence, I said “there’s a chance”. Not, “you’ll definitely end up looking like you bought your facelift off Wish”.

It would help if you said where you read this. There's a bit of a difference between the BMJ and Take a Break, or The Lancet website and your neighbourhood FB pages

😂 It’s been reported in a wide range of papers.

And who wrote it, on what grounds? With what authority?

The Moderna and Pfizer tests both had people with Bells Palsy. Not many, and no more than you’d normally find in the population, but some. It came on a month after the jab. One person in the (I think) Pfizer trial had the placebo and then got BP. But all the (4) BP people in the Moderna trials had actually had Moderna.

I didn’t say it was a definite side effect. Just that I read “there’s a chance”.

But it also said the rates of Bells Palsy after the vaccine were similar to rates in the population who hadn’t been vaccinated (4 in 10000) and following that to its logical conclusion it is not possible to say that those people would not have developed BP anyway. It is possible to state that risks of BP occur in people who contract covid, as Covid affects the nerves of the face and head.

Your little ‘Can you imagine?’ at the end of your post implies scandal, and reporting side effects with no other information is certainly not intended to encourage people to have their vaccine. Without a vaccination, there would be much more to worry about than a 0.04% or a temporary and non-fatal side effect.

[quote Canyouexplainhowthatis]@MRex What “similar” cases have you read about with the mRNA vaccinez?

Based on what I have read there have been no cases of thrombocytopenia + CVST in Pfizer/Moderna recipients.[/quote]
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-04-15-risk-rare-blood-clotting-higher-covid-19-vaccines; this links to the actual paper.

Here's some expert overview: www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-preprint-looking-at-incidence-of-rare-cerebral-venous-thrombosis-cvt-following-covid-19-infection-compared-to-incidence-after-vaccination-or-influenza/.

Your little ‘Can you imagine?’ at the end of your post implies scandal

Scandal? 😆 Not just how awful it’d be to get Bells Palsy? You clearly didn’t bother reading my other posts or you’d find id already addressed your other little points, so I’m happy to stop hearing from you on this.

"😂 It’s been reported in a wide range of papers. "

So you can't actually post the name of even one reputable paper it's been reported in.

And, as PP who have gone and looked for themselves, with no help from the poster who originally raised the topic, have pointed out, there are no reports of a higher incidence of Bells Palsy following vaccination than in the general population.

Bells palsy is listed as an "uncommon (may affect up to 1 in 1000 people)" side effect on the moderna info sheet I was given at my vaccination.

I would choose moderna if I could but if I turned up and it was actually AZ I'd be fine with that.
Bear in mind that although 21 locations are apparently offering moderna it definitely does not follow that they will be giving it every day they are open.

Both moderna and AZ should have gone through the same trials to get approved for use, the AZ issue with clots was not apparent at that stage until millions of doses had already been given, there's nothing to say that the moderna won't uncover some kind of side effect after millions of doses of that has been given. 3 months ago the AZ vaccine was considered the best and I know some would have preferred it over Pfizer, we won't know which vaccine is "best " until all this is over and we can look back on side effects and efficiency rates. Any vaccine or medical always has possible side effects to it, its niave to assume that the moderna definitely won't have any side effects, we haven't given enough doses yet to be completely sure of this.
For the vast majority of people Any of the vaccines won't result in serious side effects .

I had Moderna today (first dose), the guy in front of me had AZ (possibly his second dose). There were two lists on the table where you booked in, one for AZ one for Moderna. This was in a Vaccination Centre in East Anglia.

Anyone remember a few months back when everyone was wanting the vector based AZ because it was tried and tested technology and the mRNA vaccines were too new and untested ? Seems things have swung around now and done a 180.

I had my first dose of AZ in early March, my second dose will be later this month. I’ll be having it, though I had a high temperature for 48 hours afterwards so I’m hoping I don’t have worse side effects this time.

It’s highly unlikely to be worse than the Long Covid symptoms I’m coping with, though, and I’m obviously vulnerable if I catch the virus again (I’m 51). (Unless I have a blood clot, obviously, though as I understand it that’s less of a risk than with the first dose.