Two very rare Covid-19 vaccine side effects found in huge global study

Researchers have uncovered two very rare side effects of Covid-19 vaccines administered to billions of people worldwide during the pandemic, according to a study published last week.

Almost 100 million people from eight different counties, including Scotland, Denmark, Argentina and France, revealed the side effects but researchers claim these jab risks were far outweighed by the benefits.

The Global Vaccine Data Network study, co-directed by Prof Jim Buttery, analysed brain, blood and heart conditions in 99 million people from Australia, Argentina, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, New Zealand and Scotland.

It showed that a neurological disorder and inflammation of the spinal cord were two of the most rare side effects of the vaccines having been detected in patients.

Prof Buttery said this finding prompted researchers into a separate study of 6.8 million Australians in order to verify the side effects. The 6.8 million Australians studied had received the AstraZeneca vaccine.

“For rare side effects, we don’t learn about them until the vaccine has been used in millions of people," Prof Buttery said.

Prof Julie Leask, a vaccine expert at the University of Sydney, said testing positive for Covid itself actually increases the risk of some of these rare conditions “much more than a vaccine."

She also said that the research proved vaccine experts are alert to vaccines leading to serious side-effects and are respondng to those issues.

“Being confident in a system that will detect problems and address them, is a very important part of a robust vaccination program," she said.

The study used compared the rates of 13 brain, blood and heart conditions in people who received the Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca vaccine.