September 14, 2021

What People with Asthma Need to Know About COVID-19 Vaccines

Millions of people around the world have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Most people experience mild or no side effects after vaccination. Severe side effects are rare for the three COVID-19 vaccines approved in the United States.

Currently, the latest scientific evidence suggests that people with asthma are not at an elevated risk of developing side effects from COVID-19 vaccines.

Most health authorities, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recommend that people with asthma get vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as it becomes available to them.

Should people with asthma get a COVID-19 vaccine?

Yes. The CDC recommends people with asthma get vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon they can.

People with moderate, severe, or uncontrolled asthma are more likely to be hospitalized from COVID-19 than people without asthma.

Some people have reported worsening asthma symptoms after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, but current scientific evidence hasn’t found a link between asthma and an increased risk of side effects.

Clinical trials assessing the safety and effectiveness of the three COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the United States included people with moderate or severe asthma. For example, the Moderna clinical trials included people with chronic lung diseases such as:

Along with CDC, most other health authorities also recommend people with asthma get a COVID-19 vaccine, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and Global Initiative for Asthma.

What are the risks of getting a COVID-19 vaccine for people with asthma?

People with asthma don’t appear to be at a higher risk of developing COVID-19 vaccine side effects. The chances of developing severe complications from vaccines are very rare.

Here’s a brief look at the most reported side effects of the three COVID-19 vaccines currently used in the United States.

All statistics come from CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System and COVID data tracker. They are current as of September 4, 2021.

Pfizer-BioNTech

From the 212,979,842 Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines administered, CDC lists 214,498 total reported adverse events, including 464 cases of asthma and seven cases of exercise-induced asthma. The 10 most common side effects are:

headache
fatigue
fever
dizziness
pain
chills
nausea
pain in extremities
joint pain
labored breathing

Moderna

From the 146,657,321 Moderna COVID-19 vaccines administered, CDC lists 225,187 reported adverse events. Asthma was reported 458 times and exercise-induced asthma four times. The 10 most common side effects are:

headache
fever
fatigue
pain
nausea
pain in extremities
dizziness
injection site redness
injection site pain

Johnson & Johnson

From the 14,492,832 Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines administered, CDC lists 227,826 reported adverse effects, including 87 cases of asthma and two cases of exercise-induced asthma. The 10 most common side effects are: