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Muscle weakness reported by some patients after Covid vaccination is a neurological disorder and can be treated with therapy, scientists say.
Several videos showing patients suffering from leg spasms after their jabs have racked up millions of views online and there are fears they may have been seized by anti-vaccines.
The most recent clip, released today, showed Georgia-Rose Segal, a 34-year-old Londoner, almost collapsing on her kitchen floor after her second Pfizer hit.
She revealed that she had been diagnosed with Neurological Functional Disorder (FND), which affects the way the brain sends signals to the body.
Although the symptoms of FND are real, they are not directly caused by the effect of the vaccines, according to scientists writing in the medical journal JAMA Neurology Viewpoint.
They said FND can be triggered by a series of physical or emotional events, including a head injury, surgery or a jab.
Instead of being directly caused by these events, FND is normally triggered by the emotional response that accompanies them, including stress and anxiety.
People who have experienced trauma at earlier times in their lives or have underlying conditions are at increased risk of developing NDF.
Dr David Perez, director of the Functional Neurological Disorders Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), wrote in JAMA: “The release of these videos could fuel the vaccine reluctance by giving too much impression. simplistic of the potential links between the vaccine and major neurological symptoms.
“Instead, these are the symptoms of a real brain disorder that lies at the intersection of neurology and psychiatry.”
In one of the posts, Instagram user Georgia-Rose Segal, 34, struggles to walk before almost collapsing on the kitchen floor
FND is not exclusive to vaccination against Covid and is not a reaction to any ingredient in the vaccine.
It has been reported in response to other injections, as well as in patients who received saline solution.
Until recently, FND was called “conversion disorder” because doctors believed that patients turned stress into physical symptoms.
Stress and uncertainty about vaccines, as well as the physical side effects of the vaccine, such as flu-like symptoms and pain when injecting, can increase a person’s risk of developing the disease.
FND can impact movement and concentration, cause seizures, and impact how the body processes senses like touch and sound. Treatment includes physical rehabilitation and cognitive behavioral therapy.
Ms Segal announced yesterday that she was released from the hospital and shared a photo of herself using a Zimmer frame. The original video of her struggling to walk was uploaded to the Imjustbait Instagram account.
Recent figures have revealed that while infections in young adults have reached an all-time high, vaccination has slowed to a fraction of what it was in the spring.
One in three young people aged 18 to 29 have still not received a first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, according to figures from NHS England. But the virus is rampant in this age group, with more than one in 100 aged 20 to 29 testing positive last week.
Professor Adam Finn, of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, said people could be “pushed” into getting stung but should not feel pressured to do so.
When asked if the government should use vaccine passports as a way to encourage young people to get vaccinated, he told LBC radio station: “It has to be done very carefully.
“If people start to feel that they are somehow forced against their will to do something, then in a way it’s a pretty damaging thing to do because it makes people feel like vaccination is something. thing imposed on them.
“The nudge can be done, but it has to be done in a way that people don’t feel pushed into something they don’t want to do.” The professor of pediatrics at the University of Bristol warned that young people were becoming ‘seriously ill’ from the coronavirus and urged them to get vaccinated.
He said there had been nearly 200 entries, with an average age of 40, into the city during the current wave caused by the spread of the Delta, or Indian variant. “We have had people under the age of 30 in our intensive care unit who also require high level oxygen therapy,” he added.
Ms Segal’s video appears to be fueling anti-vaxxer sentiment on Instagram.
A comment from an account with 86,000 subscribers said: “That’s why I don’t have it yet, I’ll have it if it’s life or death, but the man has had the covid and got over it like a cold and no one gave the man a vaccine for my cold.
Another, from a user with 20,000 subscribers, read: “And that’s the shit they’re trying to force into everyone’s bodies… no thanks, I’ve had a cold worse than Covid.”
Under plans being considered by the government, football fans who are not fully vaccinated could be banned from attending Premier League games from October.
Boris Johnson faced fresh criticism yesterday from backbench Tories who were already opposing plans to introduce vaccine passports for entry into nightclubs this fall.
Talks are at an early stage with the Premier League to discuss the possibility of barring entry to supporters who have not been twice struck, it has been learned.
The use of vaccine passports could also be extended to lower divisions and other sports in England as ministers seek to reduce the upsurge in Covid cases as other restrictions are lifted.
Although no final decision has been made, it is under discussion whether vaccine passports could be introduced for seated events with a capacity of 20,000 people and more.
In non-seated events such as music concerts, where there is more concern of outsiders mingling and spreading Covid, the threshold for their introduction could be as low as 5,000.
The Football Supporters Association, which has more than half a million members, has warned that some fans may stop attending matches “unless it is handled very carefully.”
Its chairman, Malcolm Clarke, told Times Radio: “I am not convinced that all football clubs will be able to handle [checks on vaccine passports] in a way that doesn’t cause chaos.
But the Prime Minister would face a battle for legislation requiring their use by the Commons, with many Conservatives backbenchers vehemently against them.
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