A nurse at a hospital in Tennessee's Chattanooga received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, December 17. But as she spoke to the media about her experience of taking the vaccine, the nurse lost control and fell on the ground soon. That had many people worried.
The nurse is Tiffany Dover who works at the CHI Memorial. The video of the incident became viral on social media. The footage showed her taking questions from the reporters and then losing consciousness.
While talking to the media she said, "I'm sorry, I'm feeling really dizzy". As she walked away from the press, she fainted and the doctors who were nearby immediately caught her.
Was It the Effect of the Vaccine?
The conspiracy theory specialists and anti-vaxxers never lose such opportunities to spread rumors. It wasn't any different this time either. When the video was posted on social media, a Twitter user wrote: "The vaccine is a chip, a microchip in injection form to get all data about you and put a tracker on you. Stay away from it. They didn't even try to hide it. It's all a government plan to take control of our minds and build a society where we are like mindless servants to them."
But it did not take much time to debunk such false claims and reveal what exactly happened to nurse Dover. Doctors clarified that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine ingredients did not cause the loss of consciousness. The nurse actually has a medical condition that caused the episode.
As reported by News Channel 9, Dover said that "it just hit me all of a sudden, I could feel it coming on". According to the nurse, she felt "a little disoriented" but now she is fine and the pain in her arm is also gone.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC,), even though fainting has many possible causes, it can be triggered by pain or anxiety. Dover also clarified that she has the condition, because of which she faints when she feels pain. So, the incident that happened on Thursday, did not surprise her. Even doctors also stated that such a medical condition is not unusual.
Dr. Jesse Tucker, Medical Director of critical care medicine at CHI Memorial and another recipient of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, said that "it is a reaction that can happen very frequently with any vaccine or shot" and assured people that there is no reason to suspect that what happened to Dover was because of the vaccine.
Amid such rumor-mongering, Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence would publicly receive the vaccine on Friday to promote its "safety and efficacy". Even as per recent reports, President-elect Joe Biden will also receive a vaccine publicly as early as next week.
