Studies: AstraZeneca COVID Vaccine Tied to Guillain-Barré Syndrome
The Facts
- Three separate studies have found a link between the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID vaccine and an increase in Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) among people who were administered the shots.
- GBS is a rare but deadly autoimmune disorder in which a person's peripheral nervous system is attacked, causing prolonged paralysis in some cases.
- According to one analysis of UK National Health System data by a team of scientists, of a total of 966 GBS cases studied, 196 (about 20%) developed the condition within the first six weeks of receiving a first COVID jab. 176 of these 196 cases had received the AstraZeneca vaccine versus other brands.
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The Spin
Narrative A
Notwithstanding the millions of lives that AstraZeneca's Vaxzevria has saved, the victims of its serious side effects need to be viewed separately as a category, and their plight treated with as much sensitivity as the pandemic itself. It reminds us of the imperfect risks of drug development and testing — especially during the heightened tensions during a pandemic — and that there can be unintended consequences.
Narrative B
The actual incidents of GBS resulting from Vaxzevria seem disproportionately low to the actual risk involved. It's not difficult to imagine the scale of the tragedy the world would have faced — especially the nations with weaker healthcare infrastructure — if Vaxzevria had not been one of the few silver bullets to have emerged at a crucial juncture. That "big picture" must not be lost sight of as the globe was rushing to market life-saving vaccines during the COVID pandemic.
Metaculus Prediction
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