Quick note for those of you who are leery about the side effects of getting a COVID-19 vaccination: I had none. No sore arm. No "flu-like symptoms." No headaches. Nothing.
Maybe you'll be different! But since first-person accounts almost unanimously seem to be written by people who suffered from something or another, I just thought I'd let you know that it's not inevitable. If you're one of the lucky ones, you'll feel no side effects at all.
First dose I had a sore spot for a day where I got the shot. Second dose, my arm hurt a lot more for a couple days, and I was much more tired than usual for about two days. No fever or headaches or anything though. I had the Moderna, and I'm a male in my mid-40s.
You're lucky. Half of the people have some pretty unpleasant reactions to the second shot. Fever, headache, body aches, fatigue. Like me.
Mildly sore arm 12 hrs after first dose, completely back to normal the following morning. About 2x as sore 10 hrs after second dose, completely back to normal the following afternoon.
Of the two people I know who got vaccinated the same day (plus one who was vaccinated the following day), none had a strong reaction, and only one felt mildly under the weather.
All received the Pfizer vaccine.
Good news. I too had no side effects. My wife on her first shot was sore at the injection site.
Phrasing.
FWIW -- from everything I have heard, it seems to depend on which vaccine you got as well as individual reactions. Had a zoom session today with someone who got the Moderna second shot, who felt so bad they had to drop off the call early (chills, aches, etc.). My niece (mid-30s) who is an RN had issues with her second shot (I don't know which company) but my dad (87) had none (doesn't know which one he got). Friends who got the Pfizer jabs were okay with both first and second rounds... Have heard (take it as hearsay) that more folks notice side effects with the Moderna than with the Biotech/Pfizer one.
Probably going end up being individual: "YMMV"...
It is documented that the Moderna vaccine elicits a higher rate of secondary symptoms than Pfizer or J&J. One speculation is that it may be due to the fact that the Moderna vaccine contains roughly 3x the amount of mRNA as Pfizer, and this might contribute to stronger inflammatory side effects.
Not sure whether it is better to have experienced side effects of the 2nd shot or not.
On one hand, if you have symptoms, that means that your immune system is responding strongly to the second dose, which is the intention.
OTOH, if you only have mild or no symptoms, that could either mean that 1) your immune response is tepid, which isn't necessarily good, or 2) that you are simply less sensitive to the inflammatory changes elicited by immune system activation. Anti-inflammatory drugs might contribute to 2 as well without necessarily impacting immunity.
Won't know how these responses correlate to immunity until studies are done on antibody titres in different groups of people.
Anecdotally I can confirm. Moderna worse than Pfizer in terms of symptoms - more female than male.
Even Pfizer trials seemed to indicate older folks had less side effects. (Joke: Tired immune system!!)
My entire family (62/59/28/25) all had Pfizer. soreness after shot 1.
Only me after shot 2: increased soreness. slight "chilly" feeling after 24 hours/somewhat tired.
I read somewhere that Moderna is juiced up 4x Pfizer (I can't find the link), but found some other links (one disturbing one that I just found)
I just found this (from Dec 2020 leak of emails from European medical agency)
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/early-concerns-raised-over-levels-of-intact-mrna-in-pfizer-vaccine#Leaked-emails
about only 55% of pfizer mrna were found intact in early vaccines
another article comparing the two:
https://medium.com/microbial-instincts/moderna-vs-pfizer-mrna-vaccines-for-covid-19-the-key-points-39da4fe65e0d
I'll boost the N to 7 with my Pfizer data:
- First dose: Slightly sore arm for ~2 days
- Second dose: Light headache, felt a little under the weather that evening. Didn't take anything for it. Second day: nothing, not even a sore arm
Woo Hoo!
In Moderna vaccine trials, 40% of the people who received *placebo* had side effects after the second shot.
Saw somewhere, maybe in a comment here, that reactions to the vaccine are caused by antibody overdose because the person may already have been exposed to the virus or something similar.
Word on the street is side-effects are generally worse for the second shot and are usually worse for you the younger you are. I'm getting my first tomorrow so I guess I'll find out pretty soon.
For me (Moderna #1, lot 030A21A): Sore spot at injection site for a couple of days. Headache and minor body aches starting about four hours after the shot and lasting for about 24 hours. Fewer symptoms for my wife, which parallels our experience with the Shingrix vaccine last year.
Shot #2 in 2.5 weeks.
Encourage people to get the Shingrix vaccine! I had shingles a couple of years ago, and it was one of the most miserable experiences of my life.
I actually felt relieved a few hours after my first (Pfizer) shot when my arm got sore. The woman who vaccinated me was so good at it I felt absolutely nothing when she gave it. Usually there’s at least a little pinch.
I can’t imagine not having a sore arm after a shot. I always do.
Very few symptoms after my second shot. Just a general crappy feeling and a headache overnight. It’s been two weeks since my second shot today and I celebrated with a haircut, my first in a year.
Pfizer here, 70 y/o. First one gave me a sore deltoid and very slight out-of-focus feeling for a couple of days. With the second one, also late in the afternoon, no sore arm but woke up the next morning achy all over and generally feeling lousy until around suppertime, then fine.
From reports I was anticipating something so just didn't make any commitments for the next day, which was a little over-cautious. A friend says Shingrix was a lot worse, but I've already had shingles and will get that one soon. I'll gladly put up with a little reaction to make another round a lot less likely. Ditto this vaccine-- covid isn't something I want to roll the dice on. No desire for Darwinian experimentation, so sorry, DeSantis.
The sore deltoid wasn't a consequence of the vaccine.
It was that you had been attacked by Dr. Octagon while asleep & he tried to eat you.
Moderna
Sore arm both times
Tired for a day both times
Same with the wife.
She 75
Me 85
Most people probably won't have bothersome side effects. But still don't plan much for those days (or the day after), just in case.
Meanwhile, after the first shingles shot... blech.
Still waiting to be among the authorized for one of the COVID-19 vaccines. Still too young, too healthy, too well-off.
Speaking of shingles, a certain irony in the author's story pointed-out in comments in https://www.motherjones.com/media/2021/03/meghan-markle-prince-harry-oprah-nhs-us-health-care/
Perhaps that means it failed. No vaccine is 100% effective. Or maybe it did work fine, my father had no side effects from Pfizer.
I got the Pfizer shot on 3/5. Slightly sore arm and very slight sick feeling that evening. But even earlier this week I was feeling really tired and sort of achy. Maybe that is just me.
My first dose (Pfizer) was a mildly sore arm at the site, second dose with a sore arm at the site plus a mild case of the "blahs" that lasted less than twenty-four hours. I even got a rigorous workout in.
The night after my first Pfizer shot, I had a rather unsettling dream. I wouldn't call it a nightmare (I haven't had one of those since I was a child) but it was not one of my typical dreams.
On social media, I've run into other accounts of bad dreams/nightmares after the shot but I don't know if that is being tracked as a side effect.
I get my second shot next week.
Ok.
So the Nightman is a complication of the vaccine.
Second shot appears to be the rough one. Also, if you'd read the Phase I/II results, you'd know that a substantial share of people will have some pretty strong side effects. I mean, not death, but other than dying some folks will feel like they got the flu.
My husband and I had Moderna. The first shot we had slightly sore arms. I developed a bit of a rash at the injection site a few days after the shot. The second shot made us both slightly sick with very sore arms. About 2 in the morning we had managed to get to sleep when the doorbell started ringing and someone was pounding on the door. My husband stumbled to the door, his pj bottoms in his hand. He opened the door and two police officers were on our porch. Our landline phone had malfunctioned and called 911. It also made $60 worth of 411 calls.
It was a very rare side effect. We had the landline removed.
Woohoo my older sister gets her 1st shot on Monday, Fairfax, VA is finally getting to most of the 1b group, right now they are getting to folks who got on the wait list a month ago. My sister was born with leaky heart valves and has had two surgeries to repair her heart and has had hypertension since age 21 despite being petite.
Now the wait for when the county allows fiftysomethings like me to get on the list, I'm not essential nor to I have co-morbities. I'm hoping Virginia doesn't simply go into a free for all come May 1 for anyone under 65. I really think they should cover 50-65 year olds first.
You may not be essential to the Commonwealth of Virginia, but you're certainly essential to us!
Wow what a kind and sweet thing to say Steve. As supplies sent to Virginia increase, we're thinking that Fairfax will be sprinting through the existing wait list and allowing more folks to sign up for the waiting list to make an appointment.
Moderna vaccine, 71 yrs. Similar results after first and second shots. About 24 hours with what seemed like a bad head cold, except with slightly elevated temperature. Over the counter meds worked reasonable well. Wife (same age) had no symptoms except a sore arm.
my mother, who is nearing 100, experienced nothing. as for me, sore arm, and a general rundown feeling for a couple of days. i was pfizered, she moderna.
Glad you've got your shot and it went well.
In my (admittedly limited) experience, you'll only hear from people who have the most miserable experiences with any medical intervention.
I took my first shot at 15. Jack Daniels had no affect on me
Took my second a few months later. Home made - ultra high "octane" hooch
Thought I had gone blind. Had to call the fire dept to put out the 4 alarm fire on the tongue and back of the throat. Then they had to call an ambulance to get me to a hospital after my Dad beat the crap out of me for drinking at age 15(just joking, he did beat me but not that badly)
So the sore arm from the COVID shot wasn't so bad.....
+1 Jagerbomb
Mid seventies. No reaction after the first Pfizer shot, knocked flat as a board for 24 hours the day following the second shot. Second day after, weak (couldn't eat anything the first day after), but most symptoms gone.
I learned what it might feel like if I lived to 120.
My random results...
Me- Tired both shots. Thst is it
Wife- nothing after shot one, next is next week
Brother- Nothing twice
Brother- Nothing number 1
Two Sis’s- Nothing shot one
Sister in law- got very sick for 2 weeks. A Dr and likely had C19 before, undiagnosed
Sister in Law- got sick for 3 days after shot 1. Teacher - probably undiagnosed case too
That’s it.
My wife and I had both Moderna shots. Me 67, her 65. I had no symptoms, she had mild flu-like symptoms shortly after 2nd shot. Cleared up within a day.