Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
257 PEOPLE WHO have received a Covid-19 vaccine in Ireland reported suspected side-effects to the country’s health products regulator up until 18 January.
The figures are contained in the Health Products Regulatory Authority’s (HPRA) first regular update about reports it receives from the Irish public about suspected side-effects from the vaccines.
Earlier today, the HSE confirmed that 121,900 Covid-19 vaccine doses had been administered in Ireland as of yesterday.
The HPRA receives these reports from individuals on a voluntary basis, based on a person’s suspicion that an adverse health effect they experience may be associated with them having received a Covid-19 vaccine.
The authority emphasised that this does not mean vaccines caused the adverse effects
and says the reports it receives are referred to as “suspected” side effects as a result.
Reports may describe events which occurred in an individual after they were vaccinated, but which could have occurred even if vaccination had not taken place.
According to the HPRA, commonly reported suspected side-effects from Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine (those comprising 1% or more of all suspected cases), are consistent with the types of events typically observed following vaccination.
These include dizziness, headache, numbness, pins and needles, weakness, tiredness, feeling unwell, chills, fever, itchiness, rash, hives, nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, joint pain, muscle pain, limb pain, injection site pain, enlarged lymph nodes, rapid heart beat and transient increases in blood pressure.
A HPRA spokeswoman confirmed to TheJournal.ie that today’s update does not include any reports of deaths in Ireland following vaccination against Covid-19.
“The majority were mild to moderate in nature and had resolved/were resolving at the time of reporting,” the authority said.
A relatively small number of reports describing signs and symptoms of allergic reactions, including itchy rash, throat tightness and swelling of the face or tongue were also reported, but all individuals have recovered since.
None of the reports received to date have been confirmed by the HPRA as anaphylaxis.
The HPRA also said it received a small number of reports describing facial paralysis or conditions associated with temporary weakness in the muscles on one side of the face following the administration of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
The authority noted that at the time these symptoms were reported to it, the onset of these symptoms was recent. It is seeking further information for each report, including to confirm if symptoms have resolved in the individuals concerned.
Meanwhile, the authority also said that given a very small number of reports of suspected side-effects relating to the Moderna vaccine, further details are not currently available.
However, it added that those reports are consistent with those typically observed with other vaccines and included in product information supplied to recipients.
Although the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine began to be administered a number of weeks ago, the rollout of the Moderna vaccine began last weekend.
Batches of vaccines were administered to GPs across the country at vaccination centres in three locations, with just a limited number of Moderna vaccines used so far.
At a briefing of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) on Monday, the HPRA’s Dr Lorraine Nolan said that a rigorous process was ongoing to monitor the safety of Covid-19 vaccines and that the benefits of vaccines “continue to outweigh the risks”.
“Internationally, there have been reports of anaphylaxis associated with the use of messenger RNA vaccines,” she said.
“Anaphylaxis is a known effect that can happen with vaccination, particularly for those with a history of serious allergic reaction. It is important to stress that this is very rare. And as is the case for all vaccines, vaccination centres are well prepared for such events.
“As always, when discussing potential side effects, we must remember the risks they present is significantly outweighed by the health risk posed by the virus itself.
“However, it is vital that this information is not misconstrued, or inadvertently interpreted to become misinformation.”
The side-effects reported by the HPRA today in relation to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are consistent with those seen during Phase 3 trials of the jab, when the frequency of serious adverse events was low (<0.5%).
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
If Tokyo shot down a drone, which is basically a peice of machinery, I cant see how it could be deemed an act of war, especially when no citizen of China was harmed in any way. Its like if I left my ride on lawn mower out side and my neighbour blew it up, I’d say ah Fred, for fu*ks sake, what are you like. But if Fred tried to blow up my mower while I was on it, then I’d jump fence armed with the rose pruner and turn baritone Fred into a soprano.
Think you need to move house mate, that Fred chap sounds a right bollix.
Ireland should start developing drones through our technology colleges. We’ve got great aeronautical and computer expertise. We could develop valuable intellectual property for export.
I’d rather we didn’t get involved in an industry that espouses extra-judicial killings.
It’s unlikely, in China’s case anyway, that their plan is to use these things for weather, mapping etc.
They are made to kill at a distance, asymmetrical warfare at its most obvious. We don’t need to get involved. It’s dirty. Just because we CAN do something, doesn’t mean we should.
We don’t need to use our colleges to develop drone technology. That’s what we have politics for. Strap wings on ‘em and point them straight up…
No wonder this country will never get anyplace with those sort of attitudes.
Drones are used in certain places to deliver goods to remote areas inaccessible by land. Others are used for research purposes or to aid in search and rescue operations. A drone is not exclusively a weapon of war.
By the start of 2014 ireland will have a debt of approximately 205billion. If you want a future for your kids, we should explore every possible avenue that will excell our growth. If our skill set is building drones, then lets builld them and create thousands of high paid jobs for graduates. With a 205billion debts, its very simple, beggers cant be choosers!
Drone, drone, drone, drone, it’s all so depressing.
On a brighter note it’s Friday and accoring to statistics lots of people are having sex right now.
I’m done!
Might do it again later.
Your hand doesn’t count Jim
I feel safer already.
Excellent drone work.
Like most chinese made things the batteries will wear out after a few hours and the thing will have fallen apart within a month.
God be with the days when all you had to do was call the A team….
Drone on truck in main picture is wrong one, wings are straight… not delta shaped as the article (or indeed the BBC article) points out
It’s 2013, the wings orientation shouldn’t an issue.
What’s even more amusing about the picture is the truck in camouflage green with the very discreet white-wall tyres. Sure, nobody would notice those out in the countryside…..
They are parade trucks,not actual combat vechicles.
The big question of course is where will this end ? . So soon we can see China taking out dissidents in London or New York ? Iran taking out dissidents in Istanbul ? Or for example in former times The British Government liquidating suspects in Dublin or Dundalk ? With the risk of (Some) collateral damage ? Under which international law will drone attacks operate ?
Padric. You might want to look closer to home. Tibetan dissidents in Napal.
I hardly think the Chinese will be sending columns of flying drones over the skies of London or New York to bomb dissidents especially when a poisoned umbrella or concrete shoes will do the trick just as easily. It’s worked quite well for the Russians
@ Mick : I exaggerate a little about London and New York of course, but there must be a provision for this “relatively new phenomenon” written into the Geneva Convention, or some such international law which forbids the use of drone strikes across national borders aimed at extra-judicial killings. Otherwise this will get completely out of hand.
In Cantonese it’s called Hu Flung Dung.
Does the drone pictured mounted on the truck seem a bit small?
Both the Predator & Reaper drones seem much larger.
I wonder what ordnance it could carry & its range doing so?
I doubt it could reach Japan…… probably scares the sh*t out of Taiwan though.
Drones wouldn’t scare any modern force really. They’re big, slow targets with practically no ability for evasive manoeuvres past a few basic programmed moves and very little in the way of countermeasures. Iran also showed that anyone with even a basic understanding of the technology can essentially shut down a drone.
They’re useful for observing an area with absolutely no air defences and can be of limited combat value. Anything more and you really need to call in a manned, supersonic jet with much more ordnance and countermeasures. Something which almost everyone has at this stage.
I’m a bit skeptical about Iran’s ability to bring down that drone. It’s speculated that it could have been a modern Trojan horse, used to deliver targeted malware. We know the US have targeted Iran with malware before; Stuxnet.
Jason is right Barry.
Predators for example are propellor driven, and travel around 400mph at best.
A 1970s jet or any half decent SAM site can pick them off easily enough.
The MiG fighters employed by Iran are more than a match for any drone currently in service.
You must not know of the incident in question, Ricky. Iran claimed they hacked the drone while in flight and commanded it to land. It was undamaged and they said they plan to reverse engineer it. They did not shoot it down.
I heard of the incident,….. i assumed it was just downed by an iranian missile.
China is a bit behind these other boys “Senior analyst Gen. McInerney warns that US is in comparable danger to pre-WWII period, specifically from Russian and Iranian hegemonies.”
Next they be thinking for themselves
Our experts busies in inventing drones an other war high tech technology but how about this Doomsday Debate: Asteroid Threat Could Divide Society. If our God permit this such as the 1979 vn that have an absolute magnitude of 13.2 and the rolling of the moon will come up all the things that we have in this planet will erases that we may pull back in the old days that uses horse and sword that only only came face to face during war. And no civilian casualties.
have your say