Women are more likely to get side effects after having a Covid vaccince, an expert said today.
Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said women were more likely to get side effects from the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab.
People who get the jab are more likely to get side effects after the first dose than the second, he added.
Asked whether people might experience some side effects, he told BBC Breakfast: “Yes, there are. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine – for the first dose – seems to give quite a lot of minor side effects like: a very sore arm; fever; malaise; headache and sometimes chills which may last for up to 48 hours afterwards.
“They do seem to be more common in women and in younger women.
“With the Pfizer vaccine, which we are given at the moment, it seems to be the reverse – side effects are more likely with the second vaccine.
“The message is once you’ve had your first Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine – if you do get some side effects which are unpleasant take some paracetamol. And don’t not have your second vaccine because of the side effects because the second vaccine is likely to be less reactogenic than the first.”
