Are COVID-19 mRNA vaccine side reactions something we should worry about? Infographics help us see a clearer picture

 Lakvin Fernando has shared with me a fine infographic they made that compares the Moderna vaccine side effects with those in a saline placebo:

For me the surprise was just how many many people respond to plain salty water (column on the right).

Relatively speaking, the vaccine reactions (on the left side) are not much worse.

For me, this is very reassuring.

The Biorender.com software Lakvin used looks very useful.

Thanks Lakvin.

Data from 

Baden L, El Sahly H, Essink B, Kotloff K, Frey S, Novak R et al. Efficacy and Safety of the mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine. New England Journal of Medicine. 2021;384(5):403-416. (Pdf)

See also Jackson A. The Power of using Infographics to Communicate Science: Of Schemes and Memes Blog  Blogs.nature.com. 2014 

See also later GMO Pundit post:

mRNA vaccines – a revolutionary technology to combatCOVID-19

Collected COVID-19 risk yardsticks