Sanidad recommends the consumption of paracetamol before receiving the coronavirus vaccine from AstraZeneca

The Ministry of Health publishes the document on the vaccination strategy in Spain in which it recommends taking paracetamol before receiving the vaccine AstraZeneca against coronavirus to alleviate the side effects, such as local pain, fever or discomfort.

Sanidad advises the administration of paracetamol before receiving the coronavirus vaccine from AstraZeneca. This is the recommendation included in its update number 4 of the ‘Vaccination strategy against COVID-19 in Spain’, following the agreement reached by the Public Health Commission and the autonomous communities.

“Doses of 1 gram of paracetamol may be used prior to vaccination, followed by 1 gram every 6 hours during the first 24 hours, which significantly reduces “the side effects that the vaccine may produce” without affecting the immune response”, they explain in the statement.

About this, they warn that the most frequent adverse reactions derived from AstraZeneca are local pain where the injection is administered (54.2%), fatigue (53.1%), headache (52.6%), myalgia (44%), arthralgia (26.4%), chills (31.9%), nausea (21.9%) and fever (7.9%), sequelae that disappear within days of inoculation.

In addition, they insist that AstraZeneca reactions are “milder and less frequent after the second dose” and that the elderly are the ones who had the least effects against this coronavirus vaccine.

Age, the main risk factor

In the document, Sanidad includes the update on the different age groups, which governs the priority order among the population to receive the coronavirus vaccine. They recall that the risk of infection increases from the age of 60 and thus progressively until reaching the one over 18.

Recommended for people aged 18 to 55

At the moment, the application of AstraZeneca continues to focus on adults between the ages of 18 and 55, given the lack of evidence to prove its effectiveness and safety in older people.

The next people to receive this vaccine against COVID-19 will be those between 45 and 55 years old.

It is for this reason that in the document they recall the importance of the “solidarity of vaccines” and insist that the latter will be applied to health personnel, socio-sanitary and essential groups within that age group, while the ARNm vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna), will target more vulnerable populations with a higher risk of exposure to coronavirus.