WRAL Investigates

Staring, yawning, falling off bikes: Weird vaccine side-effects worth reporting, officials say

More than 216 million doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered nationwide since December, and some 68,000 adverse reactions have been reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Posted Updated

By
Cullen Browder
, WRAL anchor/reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. — More than 216 million doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered nationwide since December, and some 68,000 adverse reactions have been reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

WRAL Investigates combed through the FDA’s database of reported adverse reactions and found issues from blood clotting to heart and respiratory issues. There also were some odd submissions among the reports, but a trial administrator said they’re still important.

"It sounds ridiculous on the face, but then, all of a sudden, everybody’s reporting it. You know, not just us but the other test centers, and all of a sudden, you have something," said Dr. Matthew Hong, principal investigator with Wake Research, which conducted trials on both Pfizer's and Moderna's vaccines, as well as a potential vaccine from Novavax.

Following are some of the reactions reported:

  • Staring (15 people)
  • Drooling (26 people)
  • Pregnancy (19 people)
  • Excessive yawning (5 Moderna recipients)
  • Inability to crawl (1 person)
  • Imprisonment (1 Johnson & Johnson recipient)

Hong said Wake Research documents everything.

"We’ve had people in the study calling us, and it’s just been, 'Well, you fell off your bike, and we’re sorry to hear that,'" he said, "and you know we’re writing it up as a possible side-effect to the vaccine."

Although it may sounds pointless, he argued that it could be something deeper. "Maybe it’s not as much bike accidents, but maybe it’s affecting people’s balance," he said.

The trials for each vaccine that the FDA used to base its emergency authorizations included only tens of the thousands of people. The hundreds of millions of doses that have since been administered provide a better picture of possible side-effects in the general population.

The FDA reporting system helped doctors connect the dots between the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and women who developed a rare blood clotting disorder.

"We need to, as a population, be reporting adverse events," said Pia MacDonald, an epidemiologist with RTI International in Research Triangle Park.

Health care providers are required to report more serious side-effects, but they’re only encouraged to report less serious issues.

Everyone reacts differently to vaccines, MacDonald said, so any physical or mental change – even falling off a bike – is worth reporting to a doctor.

"This is very important with any vaccination – COVID-19 but other vaccinations as well," she said, noting that physicians and researchers can use that information to make vaccines as safe as possible.

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