Why do women and young people have more side effects from the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine? Explain the UCSF doctor

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) – For 24 hours these were the side effects that Irma Duran went through after Pfizer’s second shot.

“I was shot at 10:30 in the morning and then at midnight, then I woke up. I had a high fever and my bones … It felt like sandpaper. It was like someone was polishing my bones,” he said. said Duran.

An expert from the University of California at San Francisco says that these side effects after the second COVID-19 stroke are normal because the immune response to the second blow is stronger.

“It’s the spike protein that mRNA fools into producing intro cells. That’s what’s detected. That’s what we want to do. These are all good things,” said George Rutherford, a UCSF professor, and Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

In this CDC report, data show that out of 13.7 million Americans vaccinated in December and January 2021, side effects were higher among women.

“There were 78.7% reports of adverse events in women. Headache (22.4%), fatigue (16.5%) and dizziness (16.5%) were the most commonly reported symptoms after vaccination with any of the vaccines. Sixty-two anaphylaxis have been reported. confirmed, 46 (74.2%) after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 16 (25.8%) after receiving the Moderna vaccine. “

Luz Pena: “Why do young women and adults have more reactions to the second shot of the Moderna vaccine or the Pfizer vaccine?”

Dr. Rutherford: “Women should have stronger immune responses because they have to protect their pregnancies. They have to live to have children. So it probably has to do with sex hormones. I can’t tell you the exact biochemical mechanism.” but it makes perfect sense when you think about it in that broader context, “he added.” We also know that the immune system gets older and gets worse as you get older, but it’s not at all surprising to me that the reactions are more common in younger people than in the elderly. “

Now be clear that these side effects are mild and tend to last between two and three days. There are headaches, body aches and fever in some cases.

Should people be worried if they have no side effects from any of the vaccines?

“No. There’s nothing wrong with them. They just have a better regulated immune system that can get them through this without causing a lot of unnecessary symptoms. If you don’t feel those symptoms, there’s no reason to take a antibody test, “said Dr. Rutherford.

San Francisco resident Alejandro Galicia, 34, felt the side effects of Moderna’s first blow. He was hospitalized a year ago with COVID-19 and was given a 50% chance of survival. He puts the pain in his body after the first blow in perspective.

“Mentally, it brings you back to fever and it’s just a psychological kind, but then you tell yourself it doesn’t compare to COVID,” said Galicia Diaz.

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