Side effects of Moderna COVID-19 vaccination

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA

The FDA has authorized the emergency use of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. 

Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine is administered as a series of two doses, one month apart. The available safety data to support the EUA include an analysis of 30,351 participants enrolled in an ongoing randomized, placebo-controlled study conducted in the U.S. 

Among these participants, 15,185 of the 30,351 participants received the vaccine and 15,166 of the participants received saline placebo, were followed for a median of more than two months after receiving the second dose. 

The most commonly reported side effects of Moderna COVID-19 vaccination typically last several days. They include pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, swollen lymph nodes in the same arm as the injection, nausea and vomiting, and fever. 

Of note, more people experienced the above side effects after the second dose than after the first dose. So it is important for vaccination providers and recipients to expect that there may be some side effects after either dose, but even more so after the second dose. 

Ref: https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-takes-additional-action-fight-against-covid-19-issuing-emergency-use-authorization-second-covid