Australians who get vaccinated against Covid with the AstraZeneca jab have a 50 per cent chance of experiencing side effects.
AusVaxSafety, a national immunisation surveillance system, said symptoms including fever, headache, chills, and muscle aches could be expected.
Nearly half of all Australians (49.7 per cent) who received either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine reported developing one of more mild symptoms, while a quarter took time off work.
AusVaxSafety, a national immunisation surveillance system, said mild symptoms including fever, headache, chills and muscle aches can be expected
Only 1.2 per cent of them had symptoms bad enough to warrant a visit to the doctor or hospital.
Just over two-thirds of the 31,786 Australians who received the AstraZeneca jab said they had an adverse reaction.
Of them, just over a quarter reported missing work, study, or day-to-day activities for a short period.
The most common side effect was fatigue, which 53.8 per cent said they developed.
Just over 47 per cent said they developed headaches, 45 per cent got muscle or body aches, while 34.9 per cent reported chills.
The AstraZeneca vaccine came under scrutiny in recent weeks due to concerns of a link to blood clots that killed several people after they had the jab.
A 44-year-old man in Melbourne was admitted to hospital last week with blood clots in his abdomen and a very low platelet count, prompting concerns from doctors.
Acting Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd dismissed suggestions AstraZeneca posed any serious threat.
He said the benefits outweigh the risks of Covid vaccination, and that people should continue taking the jab.
‘The risks of serious side effects remain very low,’ he said.
The Pfizer had significantly less reporting of side effects following the first dose.
Only 36.3 per cent experienced any adverse effects – with 4.3 per cent missing work or study for a short period of time.
Just 0.6 per cent sought medical care after their first dose, compared with 2.3 per cent for the second.
However, vaccinating NSW’s population of six million by October ‘is a big stretch even for the first shot’, according to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
The premier laid the blame for delays at the federal government’s feet.
‘The NSW government was asked to do 300,000 and we’ve done more than a third of that already. We’re actually ahead of schedule in terms of what our job was,’ she said.
‘It’s up to the Commonwealth to work with us to allows us to help them with the remainder of the vaccine roll out.’
She said NSW would try to get ‘as close to six million people … as possible’ vaccinated by year’s end.
NSW had vaccinated 127,339 people as of 8pm on Monday.
Only 36.3 per cent of Aussie Pfizer patients experienced adverse events – with 4.3 per cent missing work or study for a short period of time
Vaccinating NSW’s population of six million by October ‘is a big stretch even for the first shot’, Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters on Tuesday
Ms Berejiklian also said it was important not to rely only on big vaccine hubs after the federal government announced mass vaccination centres could be rolled out across the country.
‘Having one centre detracts from people being access from their local communities and really ignores the rural and regional communities that need to have the vaccine as well,’ she said.
The premier made it clear she wouldn’t tolerate the federal government issuing misleading data about the rollout.
‘We understand that sometimes there’s very late notice when we’re told how many doses we can have,’ she said.
‘But what we can’t accept is when that data is manipulated or expressed in a way that tries to suggest that NSW isn’t doing enough.’
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard last week accused federal Health Minister Greg Hunt of a ‘breach of faith’ over the release of vaccine distribution figures.
