NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As the COVID-19 vaccine starts to be administered and mid-state counties are already reporting that they’ve received the first shipments, doctors want you to know about the possible side effects of the vaccine, and not to be confused about them, including sore muscles, aches, and a fever.
"It’s a small one to two days sense of illness," said Patsy Stinchfield, with the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. "It usually lasts about a day and it is far, far better than having COVID disease."
Doctors say those side effects are actually a sign that the vaccine is working as your body builds and remembers defenses against a future attack.
"That is something we have to educate people about every year with the flu vaccine. I have patients that say, 'Well, I got the vaccine and I felt like garbage the next day," Well, a side effect is to make you feel kind of crummy for a day or two because it's developing this wonderful immune response," said Susan Bailey, president of the American Medical Association.
Doctors say they’re also fighting misinformation about what’s in the COVID vaccine. The shots contain small amounts of dead COVID virus, so you cant get COVID from the vaccine.
Doctors say whether to get the vaccine is your choice — they just want you to be armed with the correct information.
This story was first reported by Jason Lamb at WTVF in Nashville, Tennessee.