Side effects are possible after taking one or two doses of any of the three coronavirus vaccines currently given in the United States, but not everyone experiences them.
Experiencing side effects is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it is a sign that your body is responding.
“The good news from us is that a quick response equals an effective response,” Dr. Mark Loafman, president of family and community medicine for Cook County Health in Illinois, told NBC 5. “He tells us the vaccine works.” Our body forms a robust immune response and we consider this to be a positive thing. So we tend to see vaccines that have a higher rate of effectiveness also have more of the so-called side effects or symptoms because they work so well. “
So what makes someone more likely to experience them than others?
Younger people are more likely to experience side effects
Dr. Allison Arwady, a top Chicago physician and commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, broke it down on Thursday, saying on Facebook Live that younger people are more likely to experience side effects “because young people have a stronger immune system. general”
And, according to Loafman, it is the body’s immune system that creates the symptoms.
“This is simply a reflection of the immune response, as we have when we get sick,” he said.
Women are more likely to report side effects
Arwady noted that women are more likely to report side effects than men.
“Some of this is due to the fact that women could only be better reporters … but there is probably something real in this regard as well, because something else interesting for those who don’t know as much about immunity is that autoimmune diseases are much more likely in women as well, “Arwady said.” And even the most serious, such as allergic reactions, more severe allergic reactions? More likely in women. ”
Why is that?
Arwady said estrogen can boost immune responses, while testosterone can lower it. At the same time, she mentioned that “a lot of immunomodulatory genes” can live on an “x” chromosome, which women have two, while men have one.
“So there are all these reasons why the kind of immunity generally increases a little differently in women than in men,” she said. “And so we see women, a little more likely to report some of the side effects.”
Data from the CDC also reported that women were more likely to experience side effects than men, according to monitoring from the first month of vaccinations.
From December 14 to January 13, more than 79% of side effects were reported by women, the data show. Meanwhile, women received about 61.2% of the doses given at the same time.
Does experiencing side effects mean you have had COVID?
Side effects can also vary depending on whether or not you have had coronavirus.
“We’ve seen that people are more likely to report some side effects because they act less like a booster dose for the immune system,” Arwady said. “Your immune system has already learned some of those lessons on how to protect yourself, not in such a long way, not so protective.”
“It’s also probably that booster effect,” Arwady said.
Loafman agrees.
“If you had COVID some time ago or already have some immunity, it’s more like a booster,” he said. And stimulants for some people are completely asymptomatic, stimulants for other people trigger their immune response against it, so they have a certain inflammation.
Are side effects more common with the second dose?
People are also more likely to report side effects after the second dose, Arwady said, echoing reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the CDC, the side effects after the second shot “may be more intense than those you experienced after the first shot.”
“These side effects are normal signs that your body is protecting buildings and should disappear in a few days,” the CDC said.
In studies of both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, several people experienced side effects after the second dose.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get the second shot if you get side effects after your first, experts say.
“When people get the second dose, they get the second booster to try to get the maximum effectiveness,” said Dr. Edward Cachay, a specialist in infectious diseases at UCSD.
The CDC also mentioned that both photos are needed.
“The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine and the COVID-19 Modern Vaccine need two photos to get the most protection,” the CDC said. “You should get the second vaccine, even if you have side effects after the first vaccine, unless a vaccine provider or doctor tells you not to get it.”
What if you have no side effects?
But not getting side effects is not a bad thing, say health experts.
“If you don’t have side effects, it doesn’t mean you’re not protected,” Arwady said. “I want to be very clear about that.”
According to Loafman, it simply means “your body has not reacted with such an inflammatory response.
“You’re still making antibodies,” he said.
According to Loafman, each person’s response is unique.
“It’s really a kind of reflection of how unique each of our systems is, what other immunities we have,” he said. “You know, a lot of antibodies react crosswise and we have cross-reactivity, so it’s really a mosaic. Each of our immune systems is a mosaic composite of everything we’ve been through and everything we’ve had and everything we’ve had recently. “Our individual response varies. Everyone gets the right immune response.”
What are the possible side effects?
The CDC reports that the most common side effects for all three authorized vaccines are at the injection site. They include:
Common side effects in the body include:
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Muscle aches
- Chills
- Fever
- Nausea
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that people stay around 15 minutes after vaccination and those with a history of other allergies for 30 minutes so that they can be monitored and treated immediately if they have a reaction.
Does one vaccine report more side effects than the others?
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.
Like COVID-19 Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the main side effects of J&J vaccine are injection site pain and flu-like fever, fatigue and headache.
But Arwady noted that participants in the Johnson & Johnson study reported fewer side effects.
“One thing I recommended is that if there are people who are very, very worried about side effects, you know, Johnson & Johnson in the studies had a little less side effects,” she said. “And that’s, you know, that single dose, you know there can be something there.”
What can you do if you have side effects?
The CDC recommends that people talk to their doctors about over-the-counter medications such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen, aspirin, or antihistamines for any pain and discomfort after vaccination.
“You can take these medicines to improve the post-vaccination side effects if you have no other medical reasons to stop taking these medicines normally,” says the CDC. “It is not recommended to take these medicines before vaccination to try to prevent side effects.”
The CDC recommends that you seek medical attention if you have any of the following:
- If the redness or sensitivity in which you obtained the blow worsens after 24 hours
- If the side effects worry you or they don’t seem to go away after a few days
- If you receive a COVID-19 vaccine and you think you may have a severe allergic reaction after leaving the vaccination site, seek immediate medical attention by calling 911.