Coronavirus (COVID-19): vaccine safety

All COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in Northern Ireland have met strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness set out by the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA). They must go through all clinical trials and safety checks other licensed medicines go through.

Approved vaccines

Four COVID-19 vaccines are approved for use in Northern Ireland by the MHRA or EMA.

Further information, including ingredients, can be found at these links:

Comirnaty (Pfizer) vaccine for adults (12 years and over) and children (five to 11 years)
Spikevax (Moderna) vaccine
Jcovden (Janssen) vaccine
Nuvaxovid (Novovax) vaccine

Comirnaty and Spikevax vaccines are in use in Northern Ireland.

Other vaccines may become available if recommended for use in the UK by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which provides expert advice to government on vaccination programmes.

Other vaccines will only become available once they have been thoroughly tested to make sure they are safe and effective.

Once the MHRA or EMA has approved a vaccine for use, it is closely monitored to continue to make sure it is safe and effective.

Developing COVID-19 vaccines

Vaccine research does not take a long time. It’s all the steps beforehand, like getting funding and approval, that takes the time.

COVID-19 vaccines were developed at speed because the UK Government has funded trials, to get them up and running during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The MHRA and Health Research Authority also sped up the administrative process of approval. Processes were streamlined and ran in parallel to reduce the time for delivery of the clinical trials.

The length of the trials themselves was not shortened, and the usual safety measures remained in place.

New technology also helped, enabling vaccines to be manufactured quickly. Vaccines were produced in advance of licencing, meaning that they were available as soon as they were approved.

COVID-19 vaccines and fertility

There is no need to avoid pregnancy after COVID-19 vaccination and there is no evidence to suggest that COVID-19 vaccines will affect the fertility of women or men.

COVID-19 vaccine side effects

Like all medicines, the COVID-19 vaccine can cause side effects, but not everyone gets them.

Any side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine are usually mild and should not last longer than a week, such as:

a sore arm where the needle went in
feeling tired
a headache
feeling achy
feeling or being sick

You may get a high temperature or feel hot or shivery one or two days after having your vaccination. You can take painkillers, such as paracetamol, if you need to. If your symptoms get worse or you are worried, call your GP.

You cannot catch COVID-19 from the vaccine.

Report a side effect at:

Coronavirus Yellow Card reporting site

Allergic reactions

Tell the vaccination team before you are vaccinated if you've ever had a serious allergic reaction.

You should not have the COVID-19 vaccine if you have ever had a serious allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) to:

a previous dose of the same vaccine
any of the ingredients in the vaccine

Serious allergic reactions are rare. If you do have a reaction to the vaccine, it usually happens in minutes. Staff giving the vaccine are trained to deal with allergic reactions and can treat them immediately.

Further information

You can find more information on COVID-19 vaccine safety on the Public Health Agency’s website at:

COVID-19 vaccination programme - questions and answers

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