Nocebo effect: two-thirds of adverse reactions to the vaccine are caused by suggestion, study finds

A study has revealed that up to two-thirds of adverse reactions to the COVID vaccine are caused by the power of suggestion, due to what is known as the nocebo effect.
Almost two-thirds of adverse reactions reported as a consequence of the COVID vaccine, such as headaches and fatigue, could be due to the so-called nocebo effect, a new study has found.
Whereas the placebo effect leads a person’s health to improve after a treatment that does not have any real pharmacological effect, such as a sugar pill or saline solution injection, the nocebo effect occurs when people experience unpleasant side effects after a similarly ineffective treatment, said scientists from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in the United States.
The researchers evaluated data from 12 clinical trials of COVID vaccines and compared the rates of adverse reactions reported by the participants who received the vaccines with those reported by those who received a placebo injection.
Although a significant number of those who received the genuine vaccine reported side effects, the study, published on January 18 in the journal JAMA Network Open, reported that almost a third of those who received the placebo injection also reported at least one adverse effect.
In the 12 clinical trials, adverse effects were reported by 22,578 patients who received the placebo and 22,802 who received the vaccine.
More than 35% of the patients who received the placebo reported having symptoms affecting the whole body, such as fever. Headaches (19.6%) and fatigue (16.7%) were the most common. Around 16% of the patients who received the placebo reported at least one local effect, such as pain, reddening or swelling at the site of the injection.
In comparison, 46% of those who received the vaccine reported at least one systemic adverse effect and two-thirds of them reported at least one local event after the first injection. Although this group received the real vaccine, the researchers said that at least some of the side effects reported would be caused by the nocebo effect, as many of the same effects also occurred in the placebo group.
The study suggested that the nocebo effect could be the cause of more than three-quarters of all adverse effects in the vaccine group and almost a quarter of all local effects reported.
The researchers stated that they believe that patients should be told about the possible nocebo effect of the vaccine in order to reduce anxiety about possible side effects.
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