COVID vaccine side effects seem to be short-lived

CDC

Fewer than 7,000 people reported having side effects from COVID-19 vaccines after the first 13.7 million doses were administered in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

About 79 percent of those events were reported in women, according to the data published by the CDC.

Most of the symptoms reported were headache, fatigue and dizziness.

In general, the differences seen in adverse events among men and women are at least partly because women comprise a greater proportion of the total number of people vaccinated compared to men. Also, women comprise a greater proportion of people included in safety monitoring of the vaccine, according to CDC researchers.

Studies conducted before COVID-19 vaccines were in use suggest that females have higher antibody responses than males to certain vaccines, including influenza vaccines.

The findings were reported in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and were monitored by a system that records submitted side effects of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

For everyone, the most common side effects were headache (22.4 percent), fatigue (16.5 percent) and dizziness (16.5 percent), according to the CDC.

Muscle pain, chills, fever, swelling at the injection site, joint pain and nausea were also recorded after vaccinations.

There were 62 reports of anaphylaxis, or a severe allergic reaction, according to the CDC. Of those, 56 were after receiving the Pfizer vaccine.

The CDC said the relatively low number of reported adverse effects is good news.

“These initial findings should provide reassurance to health care providers and to vaccine recipients and promote confidence in the safety of COVID-19 vaccines,” the agency said in its report.

The findings represent the first month of the vaccination process.

Vaccinations have since been rolling out more steadily, with 10.8 million doses given in California as of March 9 and 3.4 million, or 8.6 percent of the population, fully vaccinated.

In the U.S., 92 million doses have been given, with 31 million fully vaccinated, which amounts to 9.5 percent of the population, according to ourworldindata.org.

The CDC has encouraged people to call their doctor or health care provider if their vaccine side effects do not go away after a few days.

“Side effects can affect your ability to do daily activities, but they should go away in a few days,” the CDC said.

You can report COVID-19 vaccination side effects at vaers. hhs.gov.