POST-IMMUNISATION reactions are signs that the Covid-19 vaccine has started working, doctors said in an online forum tonight to allay fears as Malaysia rolls out its national immunisation plan.

Dr Musa Nordin, consultant paediatrician at KPJ Damansara Specialist Hospital, said vaccines have more benefits than risks.

The side effects reported from receiving the Covid-19 vaccine, such as headaches and muscle aches, are signs that the vaccine has begun to work and the body has started producing antibodies, he said.

Even the prevalence of peanut allergies is much higher than reactions like anaphylaxis or reactions triggered by vaccination, he added.

“To some it is very disturbing but to a doctor this is great because it means the vaccine is kicking in,” he said of the headaches and muscle aches.

Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur consultant respiratory physician and head of The Lung Centre,  Dr Helmy Haja Mydin, agreed with Musa.

“If I get an influenza vaccine and if I don’t get a reaction, I begin to wonder if it worked. You expect your immune system to respond to it,” he said.

Helmy said while questions arose about the long-term complications of the vaccines, the short-term impacts of contracting Covid-19 have been devastating.

Apart from the economic impacts and lives lost, Helmy said former Covid-19 people have developed long-term respiratory issues.

The two doctors were speaking in the webinar title Covid-19 Vaccines: Doubts, Myths And Facts, along with Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii.

The webinar was co-hosted by Galen Centre for Health & Social Policy and Research for Social Advancement (Refsa)

The National Covid-19 Immunisation Plan is set to begin tomorrow with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah being the first Malaysians to be vaccinated. – February 23, 2021.