Fewer than 0.7% have reported adverse vaccine effects, Health Ministry says

Fewer than 0.7% of vaccine applications in Costa Rica have “presented some type of event supposedly attributable” to the injection, according to the Health Ministry. 

Xiomara Vega, coordinator of the National Center for Pharmacovigilance, explained that most-common events correspond to pain at the injection site or a fever. These are two side effects that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says are “normal signs that your body is building protection.”

Other reactions experienced by Ticos include fatigue and rashes, with three “events of special interest” highlighted by the Health Ministry:

• One person experienced myocarditis (inflammation of the heart), which the Health Ministry classified had a “probable” link to the vaccine.
• One person experienced phlebitis (inflammation of the veins), which was classified as “possibly” related to the vaccine, since it may have developed due to other factors.
• One person developed Guillain Barré syndrome (a neurological disorder), which was classified as “conditional,” due to the other pathologies presented by the patient that could have triggered the condition.

“The patients who presented myocarditis and phlebitis evolved satisfactorily and have recovered; the patient who presented Guillain Barré is stable,” the Health Ministry reports.

Costa Rica has administered 241,724 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, the Presidency reported Friday. The country has reported more than 2,860 deaths related to Covid-19.

For English-language information about Covid vaccines and common side effects, visit the CDC.