What symptoms could you experience after getting a COVID-19 vaccine?

Posted: Jan 5, 2021 / 12:48 PM CST

Updated: Jan 5, 2021 / 12:48 PM CST

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Frontline health workers in Kansas and Missouri have begun getting their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine this week. It comes three weeks after hospitals gave the first inoculations.

Pfizer and Moderna both require two doses. Pfizer’s comes three-weeks apart. If you receive Moderna’s vaccine, you’ll get the second round four weeks after the first. Health experts say almost everyone should get the vaccine when it’s available.

There are a handful of reports about severe allergic reactions, but those are extremely rare, according to the Food and Drug Administration as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If you have concerns, talk to your doctor about specific issues.

While many doctors say there are few significant side effects from the vaccine, several doctors from the University of Kansas Health System did say on a live stream from the hospital that they experienced minor shot symptoms after receiving their first doses.

“I’m feeling good, really good actually.” Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the University of Kansas Health System, said. “There was some shoulder soreness. Average [number of people] will have some symptoms for about two-and-a-half days. After the second dose, it can be about three days.”

Dr. Michael Rippee, a neurologist with the Health System, said he also experienced some side effects after getting the vaccine last week.

“My shoulder really hurt,” Dr. Rippee said. “I don’t know if I remember an injection hurting quite that much. Especially the Tuesday. I got it Monday, the Tuesday I was quite sore, but by Wednesday morning, it was completely gone.”

Dr. Hawkinson said that most of the reported symptoms are around the injection site. Here are four more symptoms that Dr. Hawkinson said you may experience following your first or second dose of the vaccine.