The questions can roughly be categorized into four groups, says Peeters. “Own health history, fertility and pregnancy, and general questions about side effects,” he says. “In the last week, many questions about boosters have been added.”
We start with the most frequently asked questions about your own medical history. It is logical that people have questions about this, because you will not find that information on government websites, says Peeters. A few questions:
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1. I have migraines three times a week, will it get worse if I get vaccinated?
There is no evidence that migraines get worse after vaccination, says Peeters. “Within 24 hours you can get complaints such as headaches due to the vaccination, but they also disappear again.”
2. I have an allergy to nuts, how does that go with vaccination?
“A lot of people have allergies to food or insects. We get a lot of questions about that. With allergies like this you can just get vaccinated. There’s no reason not to.”
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3. I have an allergy to medicines, can I get vaccinated?
An allergy to drugs may be another case. Especially if you’ve already had an allergic reaction to a vaccine, says Peeters. “We refer some of these people to an internist-allergist. In many cases you can get vaccinated, but we like to do that under control.”
4. I have diabetes, can I get vaccinated safely?
Many questions come in from people with diabetes or kidney disease. Peeters: “For each of these diseases, the advantages of vaccination are many times greater than the disadvantages. There is even more urgency for the chronically ill to vaccinate. There is a greater risk of getting into ICU if you have corona.”
5. I am taking blood thinners, can I be vaccinated?
Peeters: “That’s no problem. People with blood thinners can be vaccinated.”
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Then the second category. Many questions come in about pregnancy. We highlight a few:
1. I am pregnant, do I need to be vaccinated?
At the beginning of this year, there were reports that pregnant women should wait a little longer before vaccinating because research still had to be done. Many women have started to have doubts, but it has now been conclusively proven that vaccination works. In fact, not vaccinating can have major consequences.
Peeters: “In the United States and Great Britain, a study has been conducted with more than 250,000 pregnant women who have been vaccinated. No indication has been found that vaccination leads to complications during pregnancy. On the contrary, if you get corona during pregnancy, that can lead to premature births. There are women who give birth on a ventilator in a coma.”
Peeters also saw more than 20 pregnant women with corona end up in IC in his own hospital. “They were all unvaccinated.”
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2. I want to get pregnant, will the vaccine affect my fertility?
Peeters can be brief about this. “There is no indication that you would become less fertile after a vaccination.”
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The third category concerned the general side effects. There has been a lot of talk about this in the media and there is also a lot to be found online, but questions continue to arise.
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1. Can I get thrombosis due to the vaccine?
This story came out when many people were injected with the vaccine AstraZeneca. Some people developed a rare form of thrombosis from this. Peeters: “We tell people that they are now being vaccinated with another vaccine, Pfizer or Moderna, and that thrombosis does not occur.”
2. Which side effects can I get?
Many questions therefore also about the side effects of vaccines, including the regular side effects. Peeters: “We often tell people that they can feel the flu, sometimes get a headache and often have pain in the arm, but that this will pass within 24 hours.”
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Finally: boosters, because that’s what a lot has been about lately. It mainly concerns this question:
Why is the booster shot necessary?
Peeters sticks to the medical story when answering the questions. So also with the boosters. And so with regard to the boosters, he also talks about the new omikron variant, which makes the booster important. Because with this variant you are much better protected after 3 injections than after 2.
“People also want to know whether they will get side effects again with the booster. We then tell them that it is indeed possible, but that they will also be gone quickly.”
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