Can you take pain relievers before or after the COVID-19 vaccine?
They are best avoided, unless you are taking them regularly for a medical problem. Although the evidence is limited, some painkillers could interfere with the goal of the vaccine: to generate a strong response from the immune system.
Vaccines work by tricking the body into believing it has a virus so that it can build up defenses against it. This can cause arm pain, fever, headache, muscle aches, or other temporary symptoms of inflammation that may be part of this reaction.
“These symptoms mean your immune system is racing and the vaccine is working,” Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said at a conference on recent press.
Certain pain relievers that target inflammation, including ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, and other brands) may slow down this immune response. A study in mice in the Journal of Virology found that these drugs can reduce the production of antibodies, the substances that prevent the virus from infecting cells.
If you are already taking any of these medications for a health problem, you shouldn’t stop before you get the vaccine, at least not without first checking with your doctor, said Jonathan Watanabe, a pharmacist at the University of California, Irvine.
Painkillers should not be taken as a preventive measure before receiving a vaccine unless directed to do so by a doctor, he said. The same is true after receiving it: “If you don’t need to take it, don’t do it,” Watanabe said.
If you need a pain reliever, acetaminophen (Tylenol) “is safer because it does not alter the immune response,” he added.
The CDC offers other tips like holding a cool, damp cloth against the puncture site and exercising that arm. For fever, they advise drinking lots of fluids and dressing in light clothing.
And call your doctor if the redness or tenderness in the arm increases after a day or if the side effects persist after several, they noted.
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