IT is common to have side effects following Covid-19 vaccination and booster shots, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.

He said every vaccine can have side effects such as muscle pain, fever and headaches.

“Some of the Covid-19 vaccines are even more likely to give you those side effects than you may be used to,” he said on Facebook.

“But the scientists who work closely with vaccines emphasise that when a vaccination makes you feel sick, it is almost never a bad sign.”

Noor Hisham said once people understand why vaccine side effects happen, they may even be happy to get that headache.

As of yesterday, 22,901,050 people or 97.8% of the adult population in the country have been fully vaccinated.

Government data on the CovidNow website showed 23,181,492 people or 99% of the adult population have received at least one vaccine dose.

Earlier today, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said more than 10 million people would have had their Covid-19 booster shots by next week.

“As at 11.59pm Thursday night, almost nine million boosters have already been administered,” he tweeted.

As a result of the accelerated booster programme and containment efforts, hospitals are operating within capacity despite a wave of imported Omicron cases, he said.

On December 18, Khairy also said a mega vaccination centre will reopen in the Klang Valley. – January 15, 2022.