Several vaccines against the dreaded COVID-19 are now gradually being made available across the globe. However, you may be wondering whether the risk of taking any vaccine may outweigh the benefits since the vaccines currently available haven’t been tested as rigorously as per usual protocol.

Read on about the vaccine side effects people have experienced so far after taking the COVID-19 vaccine, so you can make a more informed decision, once the vaccine is made available to you.

Normal Vaccine Side Effects

Certain reactions after any vaccination are normal such as redness, pain and swelling at and around the injection site and are no reflection on the vaccine effectiveness. Symptoms such as fever, tiredness, aching limbs and headache are also often observed in the first few days of the vaccine.

Rare Serious Side Effects

 Rare vaccine side effects such as allergic shocks have also been reported in isolated cases.

 While these are the general side effects that have been observed across vaccines, there are certain differences in the risks and side effects that each vaccine separately poses. Let’s examine the same:

1. Biontech-Pfizer Vaccine

While most patients suffered nothing more than the usual vaccine side effects such as fever and headache symptoms, there were isolated incidences of allergic shocks in persons who took the Biontech-Pfizer vaccine. However, a couple of British patients and an American patient even went into anaphylactic shock, symptoms of which include reddening of the skin and shortness of breath.

However, a more tragic reaction to the vaccine was faced in Norway as 33 citizens over the age of 75, who also had severe underlying diseases, passed away only a few days after taking the vaccine.

2. Moderna Vaccine

Whilst there were rare instances of allergic reactions and other vaccine side effects caused due to the Moderna Vaccine, only in 10 cases did the patients go into an anaphylactic shock. Fortunately, there were no deaths reported. However, a small percentage of the patients who took Moderna did experience facial nerve paralysis, albeit a majority of these cases were temporary.

3. AstraZeneca Vaccine (Covishield developed by Serum Institute in India)

 The AstraZeneca vaccine has proven to be one of the milder and safer vaccines so far, with most patients only reporting normal COVID vaccine side effects such as pain at the injection site, headache, fatigue, etc.

4. Russian Sputnik Vaccine

 So far, only typical COVID vaccine side effects such as headache, fever, etc. have been reported by those who have taken the Russian Sputnik vaccine even though this vaccine underwent the least number of trials. 

5. Covaxin Vaccine

 The vaccine developed by homegrown brand Bharat Biotech, has been safely administered to millions of frontline workers in India. While most subjects have only shown normal vaccine side effects of headache, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting, according to the pharma giant- in extremely rare cases, severe allergic reactions such as breathlessness, swelling of the face, body rash etc. may also occur. Despite these vaccine side effects, you should get vaccinated. The COVID vaccine has the potential to save your life and the lives of others. So when the time comes, register on CoWIN and become a beneficiary to receive the vaccine.

6. Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

This vaccine has been developed by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, to prevent COVID-19 in individuals 18 years of age and older. The most common side effects are pain in the injection site, redness, swelling and fever. These usually occur within a day or two after getting the vaccine. However, people taking this vaccine, especially women aged below 50 must be aware of the rare risk of blood clots with low platelets after vaccination.

7.  ZyCoV-D vaccine

ZyCoV-D developed in partnership with the Department of Biotechnology uses Plasmid DNA technology. It is an intradermal Covid-19 vaccine administered with the help of a needle-free applicator and shows no severe side effects.

Read more about: Difference between Covaxin vs Covishield Vaccine

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