TAKE CARE OF YOU AND YOUR PRACTICE DURING THIS PANDEMIC. WE ARE HERE TO HELP!

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

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:

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:

  • headache
  • fever
  • chills
  • pain
  • fatigue
  • dizziness
  • nausea
  • pain in extremities
  • muscle aches
  • pain at injection site

Written by Daniel Yetman

Medically reviewed by Fred Aleskerov, MD

 

References:

https://www.healthline.com/health/asthma/asthma-vaccine

https://www.fda.gov/media/144434/download

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/asthma.html

https://www.healthline.com/health/coronavirus-covid-19

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines/advice

https://ginasthma.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GINA-Main-Report-2021-V2-WMS.pdf

https://wonder.cdc.gov/vaers.html

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations_vacc-total-admin-rate-total

https://www.healthline.com/reviewers/fred-aleskerov-md