CHAPTER 9

• Jurisdiction: United States

CHAPTER 9 WHAT ARE THE RISKS OF COVID-19 VACCINES?

A critical question for counsel approached by potential litigants asks:

What Are the Likely Harmful Side Effects of COVID Vaccines?

• Moderna Vaccine (mRNA-1273): Injection site reactions; erythema, induration, and tenderness—resolved in four to five days.
• Pfizer Vaccine (BNT162b2): Short-term mild to moderate pain at the injection site, fatigue, and headache.

Note that in a trial survey, 80-89 percent of vaccinated persons developed at least one local symptom at the injection site, e.g., discomfort, and 55-83 percent developed at least one systemic symptom following vaccination, such as fever, fatigue, headache, chills, myalgia, or arthralgia.¹

A rare event may be anaphylaxis, an acute and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. Severe anaphylaxis was not observed in either Pfizer or Moderna clinical trials. Several individuals have been hospitalized due to anaphylaxis following the initial injection.

Potential allergic responses may occur to polyethylene glycol (PEG). PEG is present in both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines; PEGs have been identified as having allergenic potential for some patients.²

The CDC recommends an observation period following injection. This should be thirty minutes for those vaccine recipients who have had a history of anaphylaxis or history of an immediate allergic reaction to a vaccine or injectable therapy. And observation for fifteen minutes should suffice for all other persons.³

Experts in immunology have noted that the first time the immune system comes into contact with something, it is getting "primed," so it is "rare on the first time to have a strong reaction. After that, the immune system recognizes it, so you have a much stronger reaction." That dual impact was seen in the COVID vaccine trials and "now we're seeing it in real time as the vaccines are being rolled out."⁴

In both Pfizer's and Moderna's phase III trial data, systemic adverse events were reported more frequently after dose 2 than dose 1. "For the latter, rates were 54.9% versus 42.2% for placebo after the first dose and 79.4% versus 36.5% for placebo after the second dose. Fever, headache, fatigue, myalgia, arthralgia, and chills were far more common after the second dose compared with the first dose and with all placebo doses."⁵

COVID vaccines were...