Recommendations regarding COVID-19 Vaccination and the Surgical Patient
Recommendation Rationale
COVID-19 Vaccination before
surgery is recommended but
not required.
• Vaccination against SARS-Cov-2 is
known to protect against serious illness
and hospitalization related to infection.
COVID-19 Screening, and
Testing is required not more
than 3 days prior to surgery
• Fully vaccinated patients are protected
against serious illness and
hospitalization but can still become
infected with COVID-19 and spread it to
others.
Patients should be free of all
side effects of vaccination prior
to their procedures.
• Side effects of the vaccine can vary in
timing and intensity.
• It is important to distinguish side
effects from other infections or post-
operative symptoms.
• Respiratory symptoms are not a side
effect of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Consider a delay of 72 hours
after vaccination when surgery
scheduling allows.
Consider a delay of vaccination
for 48-72 hours after surgery.
(Depending on recovery period
for procedure-may need more
time)
• The goal is to avoid overlap of vaccine
and surgical side effects.
• Vaccination data shows that local and
systemic vaccine reactions are:
o Mild to moderate in severity
o Occur mostly within 72 hours of
vaccination
o Frequency and severity of
vaccination side effects are higher
after the second dose.
• Vaccine side effects include pain at
injection site, redness, swelling,
lymphadenopathy in arm/neck region,
fatigue, headache, myalgia.
• Fever is more common after the
second dose.
Surgeon's Office Resources:
https://bit.ly/SurgeonInfo
Patient Testing Information:
https://bit.ly/covidinfo0921
