I had my second dose of the Pfizer-BionTech vaccine yesterday, and was given an excellent piece of advice by the nurse who administered the injection. She told me to take two paracetamol tablets when I got home because the hospital had anecdotal evidence that doing so reduced your chances of developing side effects or reduced the impact of any side effects that did develop.
I did as she suggested ... and I have had no side effects at all.
The title of this blog post refers to the terrible 'dad' joke that goes as follows:
'Why are there no Aspirins in the jungle?'
'Because the parrots eat 'em all!'
This joke probably doesn't make a lot of sense to anyone in the United States, where paracetamol is usually referred to as acetaminophen or by the trade name Tylenol.
Acetaminophen, still got some in the cupboard.
ReplyDeleteJim Duncan,
DeleteI only discovered that the drug had two names when I checked the spelling online.
All the best,
Bob
There we are, I learned my new thing for the day. Never heard of 'paracetamol'
ReplyDeleteThen I repeated the punchline with various phrasing, rhythems, accents etc until I got it! So a day not wasted! Thanks
Ros Mac,
DeleteI always assumed - until now - that paracetamol was the universal name for this painkiller, but it was only when I went to check that I had spelt the name correctly that Wikipedia made me aware that this was the name used within Europe but not in North America.
The joke was bad ... but I did warn you that it was a 'dad' joke!
All the best,
Bob
Yeah, that one flew over my head...
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear people are getting their vaccinations, and I'm taking notes about these sorts of suggestions for lessening or avoiding side effects for when my turn comes.
Best wishes!
Fitz-Badger,
DeleteIt's one of the problems of sharing a language and culture that are actually somewhat divergent from one another. There is a terrible tendency to assume that everyone will get the joke ... when, in fact, the cultural reference goes straight over other peoples' heads!
With over 37 million people in the UK having had their at least their first COVID-19 vaccination, things are beginning to lighten up a bit, and if most of us can avoid the worst side effects, so much the better.
What I don't understand is the reluctance quite a few people have to having the vaccination. The most often quoted reason is that it is dangerous because a very few people have suffered from blood clots after being vaccinated, but the chances of that happening are far, far less than catching the virus and dying from it. They seem to have forgotten that being alive is dangerous, and that we should try to minimise the risks in the knowledge that we cannot eliminate them all.
All the best,
Bob
Thanks for this Bob,Im due my second injection soon.
ReplyDeleteIndependentwargamesgroup,
DeleteCheers! I hope that it helps!
All the best,
Bob
Dear Bob,
ReplyDeleteHadn't heard this, but it sounds superficially sensible, with aspirin having anti-platelet clotting properties. However, a bit of digging produced this: https://nypost.com/2021/01/29/over-the-counter-drugs-could-dim-covid-19-vaccine-effectiveness/ - note that it is an unreferenced newspaper report. NICE makes this recommendation re paracetamol: "You can take painkillers, such as paracetamol, if you need to." https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/coronavirus-vaccine/ so on balance, at the moment, paracetamol is recommended. Of course, as evidence mounts up, this may well change.
Regards, Chris
Chris Kemp (Chris),
DeleteThe evidence was anecdotal, but as NICE recommends paracetamol to cope with the side effects, it would seem to follow that taking them as a precautionary measure makes sense.
All the best,
Bob