Pfizer reveals side effects from the COVID vaccine booster

The Food and Drug Administration released the data from Pfizer, which outlined what side effects 300 participants felt during a trial of the booster stage. Here’s a quick breakdown.

• 63.7% had fatigue.
• 48.4% suffered from headaches.
• 39.1% felt muscle pain.

The company said most of the symptoms were mild or moderate. Pfizer said in 44 booster recipients out of 306 had at least one unexpected side effect, according to CNBC. The most common was swollen lymph nodes.

Pfizer is hoping the FDA will approve third doses of its vaccine for people 16 years old and up.

Do you need a COVID-19 booster shot?
The FDA said Wednesday that the current COVID-19 vaccines offer significant protection against severe disease and death from the coronavirus, which suggests there isn’t a need for booster shots right now, per The Wall Street Journal.

• “Overall, data indicate that currently U.S.-licensed or authorized COVID-19 vaccines still afford protection against severe COVID-19 disease and death in the United States,” the FDA said, according to CNBC.

Still, the Biden administration has called on the American people to receive additional COVID-19 booster shots starting on Sept. 20, as I wrote for the Deseret News.

• “We are starting to see evidence of reduced protection against mild and moderate disease,” officials told The New York Times.

However, scientific experts — including two reviewers who work for the Food and Drug Administration — said in a research paper that the COVID-19 booster shots are “not appropriate” at this time for the majority of Americans.

• “Even in populations with fairly high vaccination rates, the unvaccinated are still the major drivers of transmission,” the researchers concluded.

Deseret News