Side effects reported after 1.1% of Covid vaccinations in NL

Up to and including March 28, Dutch side effects center Lareb received 26,015 reports of 151,771 possible side effects after a coronavirus vaccine. By that date, 2.3 million vaccines were administered in the Netherlands. So side effects were reported in 1.1 percent of cases.

"This mainly concerns known expected side effects such as headache, feeling unwell, muscle pain, and reactions to the injection site," Lareb said on Tuesday.

The center mentioned that 456 people reported extensive swelling and/or redness around the injection site a day or two after the vaccination. Some reported swelling stretching over the shoulder or elbow. According to Lareb, this is the result of a local inflammatory response and usually not due to an infection or allergic reaction. "The complaints disappear on their own, usually within 4-5 days," the center said.

Lareb received a total of 189 reports of people dying in the days after a coronavirus infection. According to the center, the majority of these reports involved people with "fragile health due to a variety of serious underlying health problems and/or advanced age". In most of these cases, the underlying problems seem the most obvious cause of death. In a few cases, Lareb asked for further investigation. 

"At present, Lareb does not see any patterns of complaints in the reports that indicate serious side effects from which vaccinees may have died," Lareb said.