From a sore arm to anaphylaxis, a wide range of adverse events have been reported after people have received a COVID-19 vaccine. And yet it is unclear how many of these events are actually caused by the vaccine. In the vast majority of cases, reactions are mild and can be explained by the body's own immune response. But monitoring systems designed to track adverse events are catching much rarer but more serious events. Now scientists need to work out if they are causally liked to the vaccine, or are just statistical anomalies - and that is not an easy task.
News: Why is it so hard to investigate the rare side effects of COVID vaccines?
Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Never miss an episode: Subscribe to the Nature Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app. Head here for the Nature Podcast RSS feed.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
How the Australian wildfires devastated the ozone layer
How an increased heart rate could induce anxiety in mice
Nature's Take: How Twitter's changes could affect science
Audio long read: How your first brush with COVID warps your immunity
A twisting microscope that could unlock the secrets of 2D materials
How 'metadevices' could make electronics faster
This mysterious space rock shouldn’t have a ring — but it does
How mummies were prepared: Ancient Egyptian pots spill secrets
Audio long read: The ‘breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers
Amino acid slows nerve damage from diabetes, in mouse study
Laser 'lightning rod' diverts strikes high in the Alps
The science stories you missed over the past four weeks
Science in 2023: what to expect this year
The Nature Podcast’s highlights of 2022
The Nature Podcast Festive Spectacular 2022
COVID deaths: three times the official toll
Oldest DNA reveals two-million-year-old ecosystem
Gaia Vince on how climate change will shape where people live
Mysterious fluid from ant pupae helps feed colony
Audio long read: Science and the World Cup — how big data is transforming football
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free