Can I take painkillers before or after a COVID-19 vaccine?

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently updated its guidance to recommend against painkillers before a COVID-19 shot. … If you’re already taking one of those medications for a health condition, you should not stop before you get the vaccine — at least not without asking your doctor, said Jonathan Watanabe, a [professor of clinical pharmacy] at the University of California, Irvine. If you’re looking to relieve symptoms after your shot, he added, acetaminophen (Tylenol) is better because it works in a different way than some other painkillers.