Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => COVID-19 => Topic started by: vhfpmr on 16/02/2021 15:37:38

Title: Pfizer Side Effects, but what's the denominator?
Post by: vhfpmr on 16/02/2021 15:37:38
20,000 reports of 60,000 side effects, and 143 deaths, but no denominator.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/960150/COVID-19_mRNA_Pfizer_BioNTech_vaccine_analysis_print.pdf
Anyone know how many people have had a Pfizer vaccine?
Title: Re: Pfizer Side Effects, but what's the denominator?
Post by: alancalverd on 16/02/2021 16:20:01
Difficult to find out, but at least 300,000,000 to date. Assuming most of these have been given to over-50's, about 500,000 of the recipients will have died anyway!

Apart from irrepressible smugness, I have had no side effects.

The Boss has an OAZ shot, went to bed early, and woke up with similar smugness.

My co-pilot had COVID last April, spent 3 weeks in hospital and is still not fit to fly. But then he's younger than me.
Title: Re: Pfizer Side Effects, but what's the denominator?
Post by: vhfpmr on 16/02/2021 17:59:23
Er, there aren't 300,000,000 people in the country.
Title: Re: Pfizer Side Effects, but what's the denominator?
Post by: evan_au on 16/02/2021 19:34:03
Quote from: vhfpmr
Er, there aren't 300,000,000 people in the country.
There are even less in my country! (And zero vaccinations so far, but that should change in the next week...)

The site below (updated daily) estimates 177 million total vaccinations worldwide, as of 15-Feb-21.
- It also breaks it down by country - UK has had about 14 million vaccinations.
- If there were a significant difference in side-effect profile between the different vaccines, we would have heard about it (eg in the form of advice to prefer one vaccine for some particular demographic).
https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

A long way down the page, some countries report vaccinations by manufacturer. In the USA, it seems to be equally split between Pfizer and Moderna RNA vaccines, with about 25 million doses of each administered.
https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations#which-vaccines-have-been-administered-in-each-country
Title: Re: Pfizer Side Effects, but what's the denominator?
Post by: Bored chemist on 16/02/2021 19:42:44
Apart from irrepressible smugness, I have had no side effects.
You already had that, so it can't be a side effect.

Title: Re: Pfizer Side Effects, but what's the denominator?
Post by: vhfpmr on 17/02/2021 12:24:07
Quote from: vhfpmr
Er, there aren't 300,000,000 people in the country.
There are even less in my country! (And zero vaccinations so far, but that should change in the next week...)

The site below (updated daily) estimates 177 million total vaccinations worldwide, as of 15-Feb-21.
- It also breaks it down by country - UK has had about 14 million vaccinations.
- If there were a significant difference in side-effect profile between the different vaccines, we would have heard about it (eg in the form of advice to prefer one vaccine for some particular demographic).
https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

A long way down the page, some countries report vaccinations by manufacturer. In the USA, it seems to be equally split between Pfizer and Moderna RNA vaccines, with about 25 million doses of each administered.
https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations#which-vaccines-have-been-administered-in-each-country

Thanks, it was the Pfizer vaccine in the UK I was looking for in particular, because that's the cohort covered by the side effect stats published by HMG. I'm just trying to find specific numbers to argue with people on a health forum who are in a stew because a nurse told one of them the government has published details of loads of side effects.
Title: Re: Pfizer Side Effects, but what's the denominator?
Post by: JTapner on 17/02/2021 17:06:12
From the GOV-UK website:
Side effects may occur with following frequencies:
Very common: may affect more than 1 in 10 people

pain at injection site
tiredness
headache
muscle pain
chills
joint pain
fever
Common: may affect up to 1 in 10 people

injection site swelling
redness at injection site
nausea
Uncommon: may affect up to 1 in 100 people

enlarged lymph nodes
feeling unwell
Rare side effects: may affect up to 1 in 1,000 people

temporary one sided facial drooping
Not known (cannot be estimated from the available data)

severe allergic reaction
Reporting of side effects
If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor, pharmacist or nurse. This includes any possible side effects not listed in this leaflet. If you are concerned about an adverse event, it should be reported on a Yellow card. Reporting forms and information can be found at the Coronavirus Yellow Card reporting site or search for MHRA Yellow Card in the Google Play and include the vaccine brand and batch/Lot number if available.
Title: Re: Pfizer Side Effects, but what's the denominator?
Post by: alancalverd on 17/02/2021 21:36:23
60,000 "pain at injection site" or "injection site swelling" would be remarkable - they must be using extremely sharp needles compared with, say, a mosquito bite.
Title: Re: Pfizer Side Effects, but what's the denominator?
Post by: Drmarkf on 17/02/2021 22:37:27
Latest Pfizer side effects update from the Zoe app: https://covid.joinzoe.com/post/covid-vaccine-pfizer-effects