A current British study now shows that the vaccination does not affect top athletes either. Fears about reduced performance after vaccination are unfounded.
“Since the vaccination strategies against Covid-19 are affecting more and more younger, more active groups of people, there are also increasing reports of skepticism in some groups. For athletes, possible effects caused by immunization on participation in sporting events and even short breaks in training are factors that which can lead to concerns “, wrote British scientists under James Hull (English Institute of Sport / London) in the British medical journal” Lancet Respiratory Medicine “.
127 athletes participated in the study
The scientists therefore started their study with top British athletes who were preparing for the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games in Tokyo. The 127 athletes (45 percent women, mean age 27.5 years) were immunized against Covid-19 between May 12 and September 2 of this year with the BioNTech Pfizer vaccine (mRNA vaccine). Otherwise they would not have been allowed to take part in the competitions in Japan after years of training.
Naturally, they were all high-performance athletes. The authors of the study: “Of the participants, 97 or 76 percent were Olympians, 30 (24 percent) Paralympics athletes.” 67 from the first group finally took part in the Olympic Games in Tokyo, 22 from the second group in the Paralympic Games in the Japanese capital.
Arm pain as the most common vaccine reaction
The athletes kept a meticulous record of the vaccine reactions, side effects, etc. In the end, the top athletes showed no different picture than the rest of the population after vaccination with the mRNA vaccine from BioNTech-Pfizer. The scientists: “The most common vaccine reaction was pain in the arm around the injection site (94 percent of athletes) over a median of two days.” In the systemic reactions, fatigue (28 percent) was the most common after the first vaccination (on average one day) and 37 percent after the second vaccination (on average also for one day) the first dose and in 18 percent of the subjects after the second dose.
In any case, the corona vaccination had hardly any effect on the physical condition and training. The scientists: “Most athletes (93 percent, that is, 73 percent) reported no or minor effects on their ability to exercise. Eight of the top athletes (six percent) stated that they had not been able to exercise in one day. Seven of them took the training but again after a day.
According to the study, the Sars CoV-2 vaccination with the BioNTech Pfizer vaccine is therefore well tolerated by top athletes and only associated with a few significant vaccine reactions. Even in this case, the discomfort is short-lived and does not affect athletes.
Ultimately, vaccine skepticism is nothing new in some athletic circles. As early as 1993, the Austrian virology doyen and “inventor” of the TBE vaccination, Christian Kunz, said in view of the extremely low influenza vaccination rates at the time: “I also don’t understand why you have to read again and again that top athletes, for example participants in a World Championship, could not compete there because they were in bed with ‘flu’. Why are the medical supervisors not alerting you to the vaccination options? “
Source: Nachrichten
