A study links the side effects of the Corona vaccine to an increased response to antibodies

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – New research has found that people who have experienced side effects after receiving the “Fays / BioNTech” and “Moderna” vaccines against “Covid-19” like fever, chills or pain. they tend to have a greater antibody response after vaccination.

The study, published in the journal “JAMA Network Open” on Friday, concluded that the presence of such symptoms after vaccine administration is related to greater responses to antibodies, compared to the presence of pain or rashes only at the injection site, or to the absence of symptoms.

“Our conclusion is that these findings establish a new concept for reading post-vaccination symptoms as indicators of vaccine efficacy and strengthen guidelines for booster doses in the elderly,” the researchers at Columbia University in New York City. of the University of Vermont and Boston University wrote in their article. .

However, although some people may experience small, localized symptoms or no symptoms at all, the vaccine can still elicit strong immune responses in them as well. Almost all study participants showed a positive antibody response after completing a two-dose vaccine series of Pfizer / BioNtech and Moderna.

Dr William Schaffner, a professor in the division of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, who was not involved in the new study, said: ‘I don’t want the patient to tell me,’ Oh, I didn’t feel any reaction, my arm didn’t hurt, I didn’t hurt. “In the heat. The vaccine didn’t work.” “I don’t want this conclusion to be available,” he continued.

“This[studio]it serves more to reassure people who have had a reaction that their immune systems are responding to the vaccine, in a pretty good way, even if it has caused them some discomfort, “Schaffner said.

The researchers analyzed data from 928 adults who self-reported their symptoms after receiving the Pfizer / BioNtech and Moderna vaccines, as well as sending a dry bloodstain for antibody testing. Most of the participants were white adults, with a mean age of 65.

The researchers found that 446 participants, or 48% of them, reported systemic symptoms after the vaccine dose, 12% reported having only local symptoms, and 40% reported no symptoms.

In parallel, an antibody reaction was observed in 444 or 99% of the participants with systemic symptoms, in 99% of those with only local symptoms, and in 98% of those with no symptoms.

“Many have speculated whether people who had a greater reaction to the vaccine might actually have a more robust immune response,” Schaffner explained. “These data appear to support this conclusion,” she added.