News Coronavirus News COVID-19 Vaccine Basics Guide COVID-19 Vaccine Basics Guide Distribution Timeline Vaccination Sites Cost Safety Side Effects Expect Mild Side Effects From COVID-19 Vaccines, CDC Advisory Group Says By Fran Kritz Fran Kritz is a freelance health care reporter with a focus on consumer health and health policy. She is a former staff writer for Forbes Magazine and U.S. News and World Report. Learn about our editorial process Fran Kritz Fact checked by Fact checked by Ashley Hall on December 05, 2020 linkedin Ashley Hall is a writer and fact checker who has been published in multiple medical journals in the field of surgery. Learn about our editorial process Ashley Hall December 05, 2020 Share Tweet Email Print SDI Productions / Gety Images Key Takeaways Participants in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials have experienced some side effects, but they have been largely mild.Side effects are expected with many vaccines. It’s an indication that your immune system is revving up. Not having side effects does not mean the vaccine is ineffective. Members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP), a group which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), meet regularly to talk about the vaccines in development to prevent COVID-19. At a November 23 meeting, several members recommended that health providers be honest with Americans about the coming COVID-19 vaccines. The message they want to send: Yes, there will be side effects, but the data released so far shows they’re largely mild. Health experts, including the ACIP members, are worried that concerns about side effects could result in many people not getting the vaccine. According to minutes from the meeting, the committee members feel that “early experience with [the] vaccine will be very important to increase interest and demand. Transparency is essential to improve trust and acceptability.” That transparency includes letting people know they should expect some possible side effects. Those side effects may include: Pain and redness at the injection siteHeadacheStiffnessBody aches “Those are all signs that the vaccines are producing an immunologic response, just as we want them to,” said Kathleen M. Neuzil, MD, MPH, FIDSA, director of the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, at a reporter’s briefing hosted by the Infectious Diseases Society of America on Thursday. The first COVID-19 vaccines that are expected to be approved require two doses about a month apart. Another ACIP concern is that unexpected side effects after the first shot could keep people from coming back for a second dose. Neuzil says both doses will be necessary for immunity. Side Effects Shown In Clinical Trials The companies first in line to present their vaccine data to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Pfizer and Moderna, have released information on the side effects experienced during clinical trials to test the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines. Pfizer Side Effects Pfizer, whose vaccine will be reviewed by the FDA on December 10, reported no serious side effects among the 43,000 clinical trial participants. The most common side effect was fatigue, experienced by 3.8% of participants, followed by headache, experienced by 2%. Moderna Side Effects Moderna, who will present its clinical trial data to the FDA on December 17, reported that the majority of side effects among the 30,000 participants were mild or moderate. After the first dose, 2.7% of participants reported pain at the injection site. More participants experienced side effects after the second dose, although they didn't last long: 9.7% experienced fatigue8.9% experienced muscle ache5.2% experienced joint stiffness4.5% experienced headache4.1% experienced pain2% experienced erythema/redness at the injection site What This Means For You When it's time for you to get your vaccine to protect against COVID-19, expect your doctor to discuss possible mild side effects. At a December 3 briefing from the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), C. Buddy Creech, MD, MPH, FPIDS, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program said the side effects seen so far in the coronavirus clinical trials are similar to those seen in other vaccines already in use for other diseases. “We have been very reassured that we have not seen cases of things we would not expect,” says Creech, who is a principal investigator for both the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccine clinical trials. Not everyone will experience side effects, he adds. “It’s really important that people understand what they should be expecting,” Leana Wen, MD, MPH, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University, tells Verywell. “Side effects from a vaccine are very normal. It’s the body’s response to revving up the immune system. People will have different reactions, or none at all, as is the case with all vaccines” Wen says that when she and her fellow doctors advise patients on the COVID-19 vaccines, “we should not be minimizing the side effects; we should be explaining them.” COVID-19 Vaccines: Stay up to date on which vaccines are available, who can get them, and how safe they are. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Announces Advisory Committee Meeting to Discuss COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate. November 20, 2020. Pfizer. PFIZER AND BIONTECH CONCLUDE PHASE 3 STUDY OF COVID-19 VACCINE CANDIDATE, MEETING ALL PRIMARY EFFICACY ENDPOINTS. November 18, 2020. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Announces Advisory Committee Meeting to Discuss Second COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate. November 30, 2020. Moderna. Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Meets its Primary Efficacy Endpoint in the First Interim Analysis of the Phase 3 COVE Study. November 16, 2020.