A rare side effect of Moderna coronavirus vaccine may actually be a good sign, according to health experts.
Some recipients have reported that they face the “Covid arm”, in which people experience itching and swelling of the skin, sometimes accompanied by red lumps or hives.
But the stain is a harmless response from the immune system to the blow that fades within a week.
In fact, Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, says that such a reaction is an indication that your body is getting up to prevent a possible infection in the future.
Some patients have reported a rare side effect called “COVID arm”, which appears as a red, swollen spot that is often painful to the touch after taking the Moderna vaccine.
Health officials say the rash appears to be harmless and will often go away on its own in a few days, with treatments such as ice and Tylenol.
Chin-Hong said the reactions should not be a cause for concern, but rather a “celebration”.
“The first cause of the celebration is the reaction you feel that the immune system is working and preparing to protect you,” he said.
“The second reason for the holiday is that it disappears and no longer persists.”
The official term used by dermatologists and allergists to describe the side effect is “delayed skin hypersensitivity”.
By skin conditions that affect the skin, hypersensitivity means an unwanted reaction caused by the immune system and delayed because it usually occurs a few days after the vaccine.
An infectious disease specialist said that the side effect (pictured) is a good sign because the immune system is growing and is trained to fight the infection.
The rash is usually red and swollen and sometimes painful to the touch and always appears on the arm where the vaccine was given.
Such reactions have also been found in people who have received tetanus vaccines, the chickenpox vaccine and the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps, rubella).
But the COVID arm only appeared in people who received the Moderna COIVD-19 vaccine, not Pfizer, and was reported in their clinical trials.
Chin-Hong told DailyMail.com that he compares the side effect to the immune system in a military-style training camp.
“The training camp is a gradual process. At first, the antibodies or cells of the combat soldier that you develop are not fully trained, ‘he said.
“Then they are trained in this training process, they become very enthusiastic, anxious or angry, because they work hard and become very good over time.”
This “angry” feeling on the part of the solidary may manifest as a COVID arm, but eventually disappears on its own.
Chin-Hong says this is the immune system that is prepared if you become infected with coronavirus.
“So when you get the second shot, everyone is ready to jump on this thing that looks like they’ve been training all their lives,” he said.
“But then it’s not the real COVID business, so they just gback to base.
However, he said that if people do not experience the reaction, there is no reason to panic, because in clinical trials, half of the participants had no side effects.
“If you don’t get it, it doesn’t mean your immune system isn’t working,” he explained.
If you experience a reaction, try moving your house or using a hot compress, and if that doesn’t work, take Tylenol or ibuprofen.
But above all, Chin-Hong says that whether your reaction is a headache or a COVID arm, it is better than the long-term consequences of COVID-19.
“From the most common to things unrelated to the vaccine, it’s much easier to get something and deal with it temporarily, rather than the longer-acting effects of COVID and the uncertainty about how sick you will also get the potential long carrier syndrome, in which you will have symptoms, it persists for months and months and months “, he said.
