The side effects of the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine could have a bigger punch than the first, local health leaders confirmed on Friday.
It only happens to about 20 percent of patients, they said, and it’s not a reason to avoid vaccination, but it’s important to know what to expect when you get the vaccine.
“We have to be honest and simple,” said Dr. O’Dell Owens, a longtime physician who now leads Cincinnati’s health advocacy group, Interact for Health. “The second blow is a little harder for you than the first for some people.”
Reported side effects of both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, both given in two doses a few weeks apart, include pain, chills, fever and fatigue. A patient may experience any of these side effects from the first blow, but appears to be stronger after the second.
Why? Here is the short version.
The COVID-19 vaccine is an mRNA vaccine that teaches the recipient’s cells to produce a harmless piece of ‘spike protein’ found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19. The vaccine cannot cause a recipient to develop COVID-19, but the presence of the foreign protein still triggers an immune system response.
The body produces antibodies that can fight the virus, and the patient is protected from disease without ever having to catch the new coronavirus.
The internal process of strengthening the immune system and producing these antibodies is what causes most of the side effects of the vaccine, not the virus.
What is mRNA?
Good question – it’s been a few years since we were in high school. MRNA is “messenger RNA”, a type of molecule that contains genetic instructions for building a certain type of protein. These instructions are “read” by other cells, which create the protein in question. The RNA part means “ribonucleic acid”, a basic element of life. All living things need mRNA to survive.
READ MORE about mRNA vaccines through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Dr. Carl Fichtenbaum of UC Health compared the immune system to a boxer. Good fighters protect themselves more fiercely after taking a fist – as do bodies that receive more than one dose of vaccine, even when a two-dose system is needed.
“The response is often a little stronger, stronger and faster,” he said. Therefore, when people receive the second vaccine, they often feel a little worse than when they received the first vaccine.
Dr. Phillip Hartman, a St. Elizabeth doctor who received the second dose on Wednesday, said he had not experienced any noticeable side effects.
The rate of patients doing this is about 20%, and in some cases they may not feel well enough to work for a day or two. Hartman said it was to be expected.
“It’s really a minor inconvenience where I’m going, especially when you consider that I’m treating patients who had COVID six months ago and are still not breathing well,” he said.
Owens said he hopes telling people what to expect will keep them calm and aware of the process, making them less vulnerable to scare tactics or conspiracy theories.
“I’m so scared that some people will say, ‘Oh, look what happened to me,’ and you’re not going to make these people come back in time for the second shot, and that’s important,” he said. .