A study published in the Nature Medicine Journal indicated that COVID-19 is likely to cause more damage to the nervous system than vaccines, according to Bloomberg. The research, led by the University of Oxford, analyzed health records of 32 million people in England to determine the risks of rare brain conditions before and after positive COVID-19 test results or after receiving the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, as reported by the German news agency.
Researchers compared the occurrence of neurological complications over specific time periods. It was found that vaccines could lead to an increase in neurological complications, such as Bell's palsy and Guillain-Barré syndrome. However, the study determined that COVID-19 poses a greater risk. The rare cases of these complications led many countries to restrict the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, produced by the University of Oxford, among older age groups.
The study has some limitations; for example, it only examined the risks associated with the first dose of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, as data regarding the second dose was limited at the time of the study's preparation. Julia Hippisley-Cox, a co-author of the study, stated that "COVID-19 vaccines are very effective in reducing the risks of severe complications from COVID-19 infection." Last week, U.S. regulators added Guillain-Barré syndrome to the list of rare side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
