David Flores, an emergency nurse at UCSD, received the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Thursday. Unlike the first dose, it came with side effects.
“My hips were killing me,” Flores said. “It was hard for me to sleep because of it. I couldn’t feel comfortable. My back, knees and ankles hurt. “
Flores said many of his colleagues shared similar experiences.
“It’s something I’ve noticed from clinical trials,” said Dr. Edward Cachay, an infectious disease specialist at UCSD. When people receive the second dose, they receive the second booster to try to achieve maximum effectiveness. So by stimulating the immune system, in general, people develop joint pain and low-grade fever, which usually lasts 24 to 48 hours. “
According to Pfizer, approximately 3.8% of clinical trial participants experienced fatigue as a side effect and 2% suffered from headaches.
Moderna says that 9.7% of their participants felt tired and 4.5% had headaches.
But regardless of side effects, Dr. Cachay says it is extremely important that patients receive the second dose of vaccine.
“Every time you get the first shot, you’re only about 51% protected, so you need a second dose to get that 95% against COVID-19,” he said.
Despite the joint pain, Flores says there is no doubt that he made the right decision to move on with the vaccine.
“It’s the lesser of two evils,” Flores said. “Just being sick for a day or something and being dead or sick for months or days is a pretty good compromise.”
Dr. Cachay adds that patients do not reach maximum immunity until 10-14 days after the second dose.
According to UCSD officials, they have already administered the vaccine to about 10,000 workers. Many of them have already started receiving the second dose.
They add that only 3% of employees refused the vaccine.