Individuals react to vaccines in different ways. Newly authorized coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Modern (NASDAQ: MRNA) they are no exception. Late stage clinical trials of both vaccines have shown that some participants developed the same condition. In this Motley Fool Live video recorded on December 16, 2020, the head of the Office of Health Care and Cannabis, Corinne Cardina, and Fool.com writer Keith Speights discuss whether Americans should be concerned about a potential similar side effect of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
Corinne Cardina: Turning now to a few different titles that have appeared, there seems to be some concern about an adverse effect called Bell’s palsy. Is this a side effect that could affect public opinion about this vaccine? What do we need to know about what it is and what it means?
Keith Speights: Yes. I think Pfizer and everyone hopes it won’t have a negative impact on public opinion, because basically, what is Bell’s paralysis, Corinne, is a weakness or a paralysis of the muscles on one side of a person’s face and at first maybe be scary. Some people may think they have a stroke because it is similar to one of the symptoms associated with a stroke in which you have paralysis on one side.
But it’s actually a pretty benign condition. It can be uncomfortable. My wife actually had it a few years ago and it was aggravating, but it wasn’t too problematic.
I tried to make things better, Corinne, though I don’t think I succeeded, because I told her to look at the silver lining: it was easier for her to show mixed emotions about things, because she could smile half in front and frown with the other half. . And he didn’t think it was a big silver lining. But he’s an annoying, irritating guy, but not something to worry about too much and usually resolves on its own in a few weeks or months.
The reason for this was that Bell’s palsy occurred in participants in both studies, with the study of Pfizer and Moderna. I think there were four people in the Pfizer study who all received the vaccine who developed Bell’s palsy. Then, in Moderna’s late-stage study, four people also developed Bell’s palsy, but three of them were in the vaccine group and one was in the placebo group.
Now, in both studies, there was no causal relationship. There was no strong and compelling reason to believe that the vaccines in both studies caused Bell’s palsy. But I can’t rule this out, I’m just not enough to completely rule it out.
If you had taken exactly the same number of people from these studies right on the street in a major US city, there would actually have been more people with Bell’s palsy than we saw in these two studies. So, I think it’s a little comforting, that the rates that took place were actually a little lower than the ones we saw in the general population.
Personally, I think this is something he is going to pursue. I think you’ll see the committee talk about this tomorrow. But I don’t think it’s something that will prevent the Moderna vaccine from receiving an emergency use authorization, and right now, I don’t think it’s something that Americans should worry about. The numbers are not there to make this a serious concern.
Corinne Cardina: Good. This is an excellent prospect. Thinking more about the side effects, is there a risk that this information will be spread as rare, are adverse events reported as the public begins to be vaccinated? I think Bell’s paralysis titles were an example of that. Should companies use their PR power to assure Americans that this is safe?
Keith Speights: Absolute. I think it is a human tendency to focus on the negative even when the negative is overwhelmed by the positive. I think you will see this possible on social networks. I think some people are resistant to vaccines in general and I think they will take advantage of any negatives they can and possibly throw away those negatives disproportionately.
So I think it’s very important that companies, government, state governments, local governments really try to get the word out to educate people about the things that need to be really worried about, the things that aren’t. worrying.
There are a few things that can happen. There are very common side effects to these vaccines. You may develop a fever, you may be tired, you may have pain or tenderness at the injection site. These are common types of things that people should be really prepared to expect and not be worried about if you develop a fever after receiving the vaccine, it is common.
But it is not only common with COVID vaccines, it is common with almost any type of vaccine. So I think the public needs to be educated about these things.
You recently spoke with Dr. Leo Nissola and that was one of his things. I think one of his biggest worries was that misinformation could spread. I think it’s really important for the real story to come out because we really want vaccination rates to be as high as possible to stop this, to end this pandemic.
Corinne Cardina: Absolute. We will continue to dispel these myths as they arise here.