General Information
Number of Shots: 2 shots, 21 days apart
Does NOT Contain: Eggs, preservatives, latex
Full List of Ingredients [PDF – 7 pages]external icon
- The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is recommended for people aged 12 years and older.
- Learn more about how CDC is making COVID-19 vaccine recommendations.
- If you have had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) or an immediate allergic reaction, even if it was not severe, to any ingredient in an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (such as polyethylene glycol), you should not get an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
- If you had a severe or immediate allergic reaction after getting the first dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, you should not get a second dose of either of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.
- An allergic reaction is considered severe when a person needs to be treated with epinephrine or EpiPen© or if they must receive medical care. Learn about common side effects of COVID-19 vaccines and when to call a doctor.
- An immediate allergic reaction means a reaction within 4 hours of exposure, including symptoms such as hives, swelling, or wheezing (respiratory distress).
If you aren’t able to get an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, you may still be able to get a different type of COVID-19 vaccine. Get more information for people with allergies.
Possible Side Effects
In the arm where you got the shot:
- Pain
- Redness
- Swelling
Throughout the rest of your body:
- Tiredness
- Headache
- Muscle pain
- Chills
- Fever
- Nausea
These side effects happen within a day or two of getting the vaccine. They are normal signs that your body is building protection and should go away within a few days.
You should get the first COVID-19 vaccine that is available to you. Do not wait for a specific brand. All currently authorized and recommended COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, and CDC does not recommend one vaccine over another.
Safety Data Summary
- In clinical trials, reactogenicity symptoms (side effects that happen within 7 days of getting vaccinated) were common but were mostly mild to moderate.
- Side effects (such as fever, chills, tiredness, and headache) throughout the body were more common after the second dose of the vaccine.
- Most side effects were mild to moderate. Relatively few people had reactions that affected their ability to do daily activities.
- CDC will continue to provide updates as we learn more about the safety of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in real-world conditions.
Learn more about vaccine safety monitoring after a vaccine is authorized or approved for use.
How Well the Vaccine Works
- Based on evidence from clinical trials in people aged 16 years and older, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 95% effective at preventing laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 illness in people without evidence of previous infection.
- In clinical trials, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was also highly effective at preventing laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 illness in adolescents aged 12–15 years, and the immune response in people aged 12–15 years was at least as strong as the immune response in people aged 16–25 years.
- CDC will continue to provide updates as we learn more about how well the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine works in real-world conditions.
Clinical Trial Demographic Information
Clinical trials for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in people aged 16 years and older included people from the following racial and ethnic, age, and sex categories:
Race
- 82% White
- 10% African American
- 4% Asian
- 3% other races, multiracial, or race not reported
- <1% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
- <1% American Indian or Alaska Native
Ethnicity
- 73% not Hispanic or Latino
- 26% Hispanic or Latino
- <1% not reported
Sex
- 51% male
- 49% female
Age
- 58% 16 to 55 years
- 42% 55 years and older
- 21% 65 years and older
- 4% 75 years and older
The most frequent underlying medical conditions were obesity (35%), diabetes (8%), and pulmonary disease (8%).
Clinical trials for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in people aged 12–15 years included people from the following racial, ethnic, and sex categories:
Race
- 86% White
- 5% African American
- 6% Asian
- <3% other race, multiracial, or race not reported
- <1% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
- <1% American Indian or Alaska Native
Ethnicity
- 88% not Hispanic or Latino
- 12% Hispanic or Latino
- <1% not reported
Sex
- 51% male
- 49% female
Learn more about demographic information for people who participated in the trials: