No serious safety concerns have been identified in the first month of SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations in the US, Reuters reports.
The US Food and Drug Administration issued Emergency Use Authorizations for two SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, one from Pfizer and BioNTech and one from Moderna in December. A third vaccine from Johnson & Johnson is to be evaluated by the agency this month.
In the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers from CDC COVID-19 Response Team and the FDA examined additional safety data collected during the first month of wider SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations. In their sample of nearly 13.8 million vaccine doses, there were 6,994 reports of adverse reactions, 90 percent of which were not serious, such as headache or fatigue. They note that 113 deaths were reported in the population, but did not appear linked to vaccination. "These initial findings should provide reassurance to health care providers and to vaccine recipients and promote confidence in the safety of COVID-19 vaccines," the researchers add.