BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — According to the CDC as of Monday, nearly 121 million Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 74 million are fully vaccinated, but this comes as some people go through some negative side effects from the vaccine.
Several states across the country chose to temporarily shut down Johnson and Johnson sites after receiving complaints of negative reactions shortly after patients were administered the one-shot vaccine.
“More people are getting sick from the COVID-19 vaccines than any other vaccine.”
Dr. Hemmal Kothary with Dignity Health Medical Group says most side effects from a COVID-19 vaccine are usually minor and wear off within 24 hours. However, there are still more severe side effects to watch out for.
“If you start feeling short of breath, you can't catch your breath you can't finish sentences, you should go to the hospital because there's something else going on, but the more common effects we see are sore arms, headaches, fatigue, some people get fevers and chills.”
Kothary says those experiencing some of the reactions can be seen more in certain groups.
“I have heard anecdotal data seeing younger people getting sicker.”
This comes as sites in at least three states paused the Johnson and Johnson vaccines due to reports of adverse reactions.
Health officials with the CDC have since investigated some of these sites, saying that the vaccine is safe to resume administration and nothing of major concern, which will also continue here in Kern County as the local public health department tells 23ABC that they “are not aware of any unusual local adverse reactions or hospitalizations.”
"We are currently running a mass vaccination site at Cal State Bakersfield right now in conjunction with Kaiser and Adventist Health and that's the vaccine we're using this week, we haven't seen anything bad with it,” said Dr. Kothary.
Kothary also says that one could still potentially get COVID down the line, as this vaccine is about 75% effective against the predominant COVID-19 variant in the U.S. whereas Pfizer and Moderna are about 95% effective.
“But remember, Johnson and Johnson was also studied against other variants, so it is going to be a little less effective, because these other variants are a lot stronger.“
Health officials also say people tend to not see side effects after their first vaccine of Moderna and Pfizer, and that people tend to get sicker after the second dose of those vaccines.
If you would like to report any adverse reactions, you can do so at the link below.
https://vaers.hhs.gov
