JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Food and Drug Administration has compiled data about side effects reported among those who have received one of the three COVID-19 vaccines approved in the United States.
The data specifically addresses eight side effects: injection site pain, fatigue, headache, body/muscle aches, joint pain, nausea/vomiting, chills, and fever.
Based on the data, a high percentage of patients who received the Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine reported pain at the injection site. Other side effects differed based on which shot the patient received.
Pfizer vaccine
Forty-seven percent of patients between the ages of 18 and 55 who received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine reported fatigue, 42% reported headache and 21% complained of muscle pain. A smaller percentage said they experienced chills and joint pain. Eleven percent reported diarrhea as a side effect of the vaccine. Diarrhea is only mentioned as a potential side effect for patients who received the Pfizer vaccine.
A larger percentage of patients between 18 and 55 experienced side effects when they received the second dose, compared to the first dose.
Moderna vaccine
For patients between 18 and 65 years old, fewer complained about fatigue and headache than those who received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, but complaints about side effects were significantly higher when these patients received the second dose of the Moderna vaccine. A larger percentage of patients reported side effects from the second Moderna dose than those who received the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
Johnson & Johnson vaccine
This is a single-dose shot. Forty-four percent of the patients between 18 and 59 years old reported headache and fatigue after receiving the vaccine, 39% reported body/muscle aches,16% complained of nausea and 13% reported developing a fever after getting the shot.
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Click here to see the entire breakdown of side effects. The data does not include severe reactions. The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said there have been a few severe reactions related to allergies.