What side effects are common and harmless?

– Absolutely most common is to get a little pain in the arm after the injection, it can be a little red and swollen. You can also be tired, have a little fever and a headache. These are classic side effects, but the degree to which you get them varies. It is harmless, but it can still be that you take sick leave for a few days because it can resemble flu-like symptoms. When they started vaccinating healthcare staff and entire wards, they saw that there were many who took sick leave, because the side effects can be similar to the symptoms that are shown in infection, says Matti Sällberg, professor of biomedical analysis at Karolinska Institutet.

When to seek help?

– After the Astra vaccine, you should be monitored for new or worsening symptoms of severe headache, abdominal pain, shortness of breath, weakness or pain in the legs, or change in vision within one to two weeks after vaccination. If you have it, you should seek help, says Soo Aleman, associate professor and chief physician at Karolinska University Hospital.

– With all vaccines, you should be aware of symptoms that persist and do not go away. You should seek medical help and report as a side effect if it persists for more than two to three days, says Matti Sällberg.

Are there any side effects from other vaccines that you should pay special attention to?

– The other vaccines used in Sweden have seen a few more serious side effects, such as more severe allergic reactions such as swelling in the throat, but it has then been discovered when observed a quarter of an hour after the vaccination. Few cases of half-sided facial paralysis and lymph node enlargement have also been reported, says Soo Aleman.

– It is important that if you have something that you experience can be a side effect, you should report to where you got the vaccine, then they report on to the Medical Products Agency, which creates an overview. It is extra important now that we are starting to combine vaccines, says Matti Sällberg.

If you experience that you are ill for some time after, can you be infected then or can you go to the store for example?

– It depends on what symptoms you have, but the rule of thumb is that if you feel sick with a fever, sore throat or cough, you should continue to stay at home even after vaccination. You have not reached maximum protection against covid-19 until a few weeks after the second dose, and vaccine protection is not one hundred percent, so there is potentially a small risk that you can infect others, says Soo Aleman.