A former Sydney high school student has told Ben Fordham of how she missed her HSC exams due to an adverse COVID-19 vaccine reaction.
Monica Eskandar received her first dose of a vaccine just before her year 12 exams in September last year.
Within a few hours, she suffered serious chest pains, prompting her family to call an ambulance.
“I said to my mum, ‘There is something really wrong with my heart’,” Eskandar told 2GB’s Ben Fordham
After days of intense chest pain, Eskandar was eventually diagnosed with pericarditis.
“One of the doctors initially told me this was all in my mind,” Eskandar said.
“She told me pericarditis was only common in males under 30.
“I was too sick to sit my HSC after all of that.”
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Adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines are rare.
According to the federal government, 63 million COVID-19 vaccination doses have been administered with only 136,000 recipients experiencing adverse reactions, or 0.2 per cent.
Leading cardiologist and host of 2GB’s Healthy Living Ross Walker told Fordham it was clear Eskandar had experienced “post-vaccine pericarditis”.
“I think an important point to make is if you get COVID-19 and it does the same thing (as pericarditis), it probably is ten times worse,” Walker said.
Eskandar was never able to sit her exams but received an ATAR based on results from all of her schooling years.
