CDC Says Some Vaccine Reactions Were Caused By Anxiety

Dozens of cases of short-term symptoms like fainting and dizziness were stress-related, not due to problems with the shots, health officials say.

NEW YORK (AP) — It was anxiety — and not a problem with the shots — that caused fainting, dizziness and other short-term reactions in dozens of people at coronavirus vaccine clinics in five states, U.S. health officials have concluded. Experts say the clusters detailed Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are an example of a phenomenon that’s been chronicled for decades from a variety of different vaccines. Basically, some people get so freaked out by injections that their anxiety spurs a physical reaction. “We knew we were going to see this” as mass COVID-19 vaccine clinics were set up around the world, said Dr. Noni MacDonald, a Canadian researcher who has studied similar incidents.