BVI: Some male residents who have been given the COVID-19 jab have registered what may be seen as moderate but unusual side effects, including uncontrolled penile erections and extra energy.
This is according to National Epidemiologist, Harmonie Massiah, who shared those reports during a live COVID-19 update on Facebook yesterday, September 27.
At the time, she discussing some of the adverse reactions or side effects disclosed by persons who had received COVID-19 vaccinations.
Massiah said more than 570 persons had so far responded to a portal hosted by the Public Health Unit about their side effects.
She said the most prevalent side effects reported are fever, headache, muscle ache, chills, pain, and tenderness at the injection site.
“So we have a fairly good idea of what is happening at the local level,” Massiah said.
“Some of the more moderate side effects that we have seen — which occurred in less than one percent of the population — are things like dizzy spells, all-body itching (that has occurred in only two persons), and we have seen, actually some persons reported erections and extra energy actually,” she added.
The National Epidemiologist said the erection side effect was derived specifically from the AstraZeneca jab.
She was hopeful that persons who had not taken the vaccine so far would be inclined to do so now after hearing about the moderate side effects that were experienced.
Massiah said the Public Health Unit has always strived to be very transparent in its processes, as well as its data reporting and recording because it believes in having a high-quality of information to make appropriate decisions.
“The entire objective of the Unit is population health, so we would not want to lure the public into a false sense of security and we would not want to push or nudge them in a direction that we think would have a harmful impact on their lives,” Massiah added.
Meanwhile, according to Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronald Georges, an estimated 17,400 persons have received a first dose of the vaccine so far while a further 14,959 persons have had two doses of the vaccine.
These vaccination numbers represent roughly 50 percent of the territory’s population.