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Scare-mongering about the #COVID19 #vaccine: a thread.
The scare posts about the vaccine have begun. You may have seen video of a Tennessee nurse, who felt light-headed and then passed out while giving an interview about her injection. /1 https://www.factcheck.org/2020/12/anti-vaccine-posts-use-deceptively-edited-video-clip/
The scare posts about the vaccine have begun. You may have seen video of a Tennessee nurse, who felt light-headed and then passed out while giving an interview about her injection. /1 https://www.factcheck.org/2020/12/anti-vaccine-posts-use-deceptively-edited-video-clip/
/2 She's fine, and some of the clips don't show her recovery or update on her condition. *This reaction is completely normal* and really has nothing to do with the vaccine, per se, but moreso with the process of being vaccinated (needle injection, possible pain).
/3 This is a vasovagal reaction. I've had these as well, starting when I was about 12 and had a penicillin shot for strep throat. I felt OK for a few minutes, then passed out in my pediatrician's waiting room and woke up to smelling salts. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/vasovagal-syncope/symptoms-causes/syc-20350527#:~:text=Vasovagal%20syncope%20
/4 I had the same reaction--light-headed--for about 2 decades whenever I'd get a shot or blood draw. I just informed the healthcare worker that this was typical, and I'd need to lie down for a bit after the injection until I felt better.
/5 The only time I actually fainted was the very first, because I could anticipate what was coming after experiencing it once. You can see from the video that the nurse probably felt that too, as she pauses and you can see her start to feel the dizziness coming on.
/6 This is more common with adolescents and adults than kids, which is why it's listed as a potential outcome from HPV vaccination (given to pre-teens generally) and other shots given past early childhood (meningitis, Tdap boosters, etc.). Again, totally normal.
Personally, I rarely experience it anymore, maybe because being pregnant 3 times means a lot of shots and blood draws so I've become accustomed to them. But tl;dr, it's quite common, expected to happen, & not harmful by itself. /fin
Addendum: rumors are flying that the nurse who fainted passed away. Her hospital states otherwise, that she is alive and fine: https://twitter.com/CHI_Memorial/status/1339965596402937856?s=19
And remember that antivaccine groups spread a similar rumor about one of the early vaccine recipients (who also is alive and fine). https://fullfact.org/online/elisa-granato-fake/
