What are the most common side effects from COVID vaccines? Here’s what the CDC says

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, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

Of the 6,994 people who said they had side effects between Dec. 14 and Jan. 13, 640 were considered serious, the CDC said.

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.

The most common side effects were headache (22.4%), fatigue (16.5%) and dizziness (16.5%), according to the CDC. It said 113 deaths were reported, including 78 individuals who lived in long-term care facilities.

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

The median age of vaccine recipients recorded in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System was 42 years old. Nearly 80% of reported adverse effects occurred in women, according to the CDC.

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, and more than 57 million doses have now been administered, according to NPR.

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.

This story was originally published February 19, 2021 at 9:24 AM with the headline "What are the most common side effects from COVID vaccines? Here’s what the CDC says."