As the coronavirus vaccine rollout continues across the country, health experts say one thing is critical for people to understand before they roll up their sleeves: The vaccines may cause side effects.
The three vaccines authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to combat the coronavirus are developed by Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only one shot, while the others require two doses.
The three vaccines have similar side effects and are an indication that the vaccines are helping to build protection or immunity against disease. These are the most commonly reported side effects:
Reactions are generally temporary and resolve within a few days, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The side effects may make you feel under the weather, causing experts to recommend not making any big plans for a few days after you get a dose of the vaccine.
“Where a mistake could be made is in people being surprised or not being prepared for side effects,” says William Moss, M.D., executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
CDC data released Feb. 19 indicated that the side effects from the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines were as expected and not serious among the vast majority of the first 22 million people who received them.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine appears to be less likely to produce side effects than the other vaccines, Moss said. In its clinical trial data submitted to the FDA, the most common side effects were headache (39 percent), fatigue (38 percent), muscle pain (33 percent), nausea (14 percent) and fever (10 percent).
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