The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that Americans who received the third dose of the coronavirus vaccine will experience similar side effects as the second shot.
- “Most reported local and systemic reactions were mild to moderate, transient, and most frequently reported the day after vaccination,” the study’s authors said, according to The New York Times.
What are the new COVID-19 vaccine booster side effects?
The CDC’s data — which was based on a study that ran from mid-August to mid-September — found that a number of participants experienced side effects from the third shot.
Per The New York Times, here’s a breakdown of what participants experienced:
- Pain or swelling in their arms after getting the shot — 79.4% .
- Fever or headache — 74.1%.
What are the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster side effects?
Earlier in September, Pfizer released a list of side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine booster shot, which was sent to the Food and Drug Administration.
The data, which was then released by the FDA, outlined the side effects that 300 Pfizer booster shot trial participants experienced from the third shot.
According to the report:
- Fatigue — 63.7%.
- Headache — 48.4%.
- Muscle pain — 39.1%.
Most of the symptoms were mild or moderate, according to Pfizer. In total, 44 out of 306 participants had at least one unexpected side effect, like swollen lymph nodes, CNBC reports.
What about other COVID-19 vaccine boosters?
Last week, the FDA approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine booster shot for people who are over 65 years old, assuming they received the first two doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Those who received the vaccine from Moderna or Johnson & Johnson are awaiting authorization for their vaccine booster.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” over the weekend that Moderna and Johnson & Johnson data is coming.
- “The actual data that we’ll get (on) that third shot for the Moderna and second shot for the J&J is literally a couple to a few weeks away,” he said. “We’re working on that right now to get the data to the FDA, so they can examine it and make a determination about the boosters for those people.”