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Emden (dpa) - Around 30 employees of the Emden Clinic reported sick after their first corona vaccination with reference to side effects.

A total of 194 employees, including nurses and doctors, were vaccinated with the vaccine from the pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca on Friday and Saturday, as a spokesman for the sponsoring company, which also includes the clinics in Aurich and Norden, said on Monday.

The employees gave, among other things, headache, fatigue and fever as reasons.

How long the stated side effects lasted was initially not known.

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), vaccination reactions can occur both with the mRNA vaccines from Biontech / Pfizer and Moderna and with the vector-based Astrazeneca vaccine.

As a rule, they begin shortly after the vaccination and last a few days.

With the Astrazeneca vaccine, the most common side effects are fatigue, headaches and feelings of illness.

The vaccination reaction, for example in the cases reported in Emden, was "not at all unexpected," said the Erlangen infection immunologist Christian Bogdan of the German press agency.

“The symptoms are an expression of the immune response, which shows that something actually happens in the body after the vaccination.

The symptoms mentioned here, such as headache or fever, correspond completely to what has already been published in studies, ”said Bogdan.

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The manufacturer Astrazeneca does not comment directly on the cases in Emden, but states: "Currently the reported reactions are as we would expect based on the findings from our clinical study program."

These included temporary local reactions such as pain at the injection site and systemic reactions such as mild headache, fatigue, chills and malaise.

These reactions occur more often one day after vaccination - after a second dose they are less common.

It is known from studies, according to Bogdan, that about half of the people who were vaccinated reported mild headaches or muscle pain as a side effect after such vaccinations.

Up to 70 percent felt tired after vaccination.

In addition to local effects, these systemic effects could also mean that employees could temporarily not work because of the symptoms mentioned, the scientist explained.

In addition, vaccination reactions were more pronounced in younger people because, unlike older people, they had a more active immune system.

Against the background of these well-known vaccine reactions of the previously approved vaccines against Covid-19, it makes sense not to vaccinate all employees in a ward, department or clinic at the same time.

"You wouldn't do that with any other vaccine that is known to trigger a significant vaccination reaction," said Bogdan.

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As the sponsoring company of the Emden Clinic further announced, the vaccinations were suspended on Saturday afternoon because of the symptoms.

Five other employees were no longer vaccinated - also in order to «maintain the ward's ability to act».

The clinic did not say which station it was about.

The patient care in the hospital is assured despite the sick leave of the employees.

However, due to the lack of staff, not all beds could be occupied, it said.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210215-99-454147 / 2

RKI on the safety of vaccines