The Pfizer vaccine is shown to be 95-percent effectiveness against COVID-19.
Like any medicine you take, there are possible side effects.
Your arm will likely be a bit sore at the injection site. You could feel fatigued, have muscles aches, headache, or even a slight fever.
National Foundation of Infectious Diseases President Patsy Stinchfield says that’s all to be expected.
“What is happening is your immune system is responding. It sees the bad guy. It’s making the good guys. That sort of feeling of that there’s something happening in my body is to be expected and sometimes when it happens, people feel relieved like there’s something underway that’s going to protect them,” said Stinchfield.
Some people in the trials reported feeling crummy, for a lack of a better word.
That usually only last a day maybe two and the FDA says it was more common after the second dose than the first.
There have been some reported severe reactions to the vaccine, but those have been few and far apart.
At this time, the FDA has given emergency approval for people 16 years and older to get the Pfizer vaccine.
It does not recommend getting the vaccine if you know you have a severe allergy to one of the ingredients. It also doesn’t recommend you get the second dose if you had a severe allergic reaction to the first dose.
Stinchfield is concerned about misinformation spreading, especially when people hear something like someone dying or getting a cancer diagnosis and they had also gotten the vaccine.
“Unfortunately, people will jump to cause and effect. There’s always a backdrop of life, of people who have miscarriages, people who die, people who develop a disease. That’s going to keep happening with or without this vaccine,” said Stinchfield. “I’m concerned that there is an element of the anti-vaccine world who is so prime to jump on one of those and turn the conversation. That would be devastating.”
Stinchfield says it’s important for people to check their facts when they see things like that and make sure you’re getting your information from a reliable source.
