COVID-19 booster shots: Here’s what you should know about side effects
Global News
Adverse events are expected after the administration of vaccines and COVID-19 booster doses are no different. Here's a look at what has been reported so far.
It’s been more than a year since Canada first started rolling out COVID-19 vaccine doses. Now, Canadians are rolling up their sleeves to get booster shots to combat the highly transmissible Omicron variant. But do boosters have the same side effects as the initial vaccine shots?
Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends that booster shots of an mRNA vaccine – from Pfizer and Moderna – be offered to adults aged 18 and above at least six months after their second dose.
In updated guidance released on Dec. 3, NACI also said immunocompromised Canadians may receive a second booster, or fourth shot, at least six months after their last dose.
Side effects are common when it comes to vaccines and booster shots are no different.
“Side effects often tell us that our immune systems are actually working and are responding as they should to the vaccine,” said Dr. Samir Sinha, director of geriatrics at Sinai Health and University Health Network hospitals in Toronto.
Experts say while some people may experience a more intense reaction to the shots with headaches, body chills and fatigue, others just feel some soreness in the arm that was injected.
“The adverse effects of dose three should not differ all that much compared to dose two or previous injections,” said Dr. Ciriaco Picirillo, an immunologist and senior scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).
Clinical trial data shows that a booster dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine has a favourable safety profile comparable to the second dose of the primary series, according to NACI.