Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects: Fever, Fatigue, Arm Pain, Volunteer Reveals

Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine may cause several side effects, including fever, fatigue and arm pain, a volunteer revealed on Friday.

Jack Morningstar, a volunteer from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said he signed up for the COVID-19 vaccine trial “to provide a good data point in the study." He also urged the public to get the vaccine “to save lives.”

“As a tech-savvy person I've become aware of a lot of the misinformation that's being spread online about some of these vaccines and its process, and I'd just like to emphasize that I don't think now's the time to be fearmongering about vaccines,” Morningstar said during an interview on Fox & Friends.

“I don't think we should be fearful about a low-grade fever and little bit of arm pain. That's nothing. But what we should be fearful of is a death tally of 240,000 that's currently spiking at a terrifying rate at that,” he added.

The college student received an initial dose of Moderna’s vaccine candidate and was given a booster less than a month later. He developed side effects following the first injection. He also felt fatigued and feverish after receiving the booster.

“I was able to shake that with a couple Ibuprofens, and there was some pain at the injection site, which I'm told is similar to what people experienced with the shingles vaccine,” Morningstar said.

His interview came days before biotech company Modern Inc. revealed Monday that its experimental coronavirus vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing an infection. The Moderna study had 30,000 trial volunteers. Half of the volunteers were given two doses of the vaccine 28 days apart, while the other half received two shots of the placebo, NPR reported.

Scientists recorded 95 instances where study participants tested positive for the coronavirus. Ninety of those cases involved participants who received the placebo. Five participants from the vaccinated group were also diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. Of the 95 cases, only 11 were severe.

“This positive interim analysis from our Phase 3 study has given us the first clinical validation that our vaccine can prevent COVID-19 disease, including severe disease,” Moderna Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel said.