Every day nearly 3 million people in the United States are getting the COVID-19 vaccine. And every new jab prompts new questions about what to expect after vaccination. One of the biggest hurdles keeping people from getting the vaccine are fears of side effects.
It is true that many people who have received the vaccine report short-lived side effects like fatigue, headache, muscle aches and fever are more common after the second dose of both the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna vaccines, which each require two shots. (The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only a single shot.) Patients who experience unpleasant side effects after the second dose often describe feeling as if they have a bad flu and use phrases like “it flattened me” or “I was useless for two days.” During vaccine studies, patients were advised to schedule some brief time off work after the second dose just in case they needed to spend a day or two in bed.
Data collected from v-safe, the app everyone is encouraged to use to track side effects after vaccination, also show an increase in reported side effects after the second dose. For instance, about 29% of people reported fatigue after the first Pfizer-BioNTech shot, but that jumped to 50% after the second dose. Muscle pain rose from 17% after the first shot to 42% after the second. While only about 7% of people got chills and fever after the first dose, that increased to about 26% after the second dose.
The New York Times interviewed several dozen of the newly vaccinated in the days afterward. They recounted a wide spectrum of responses, from no reaction at all to symptoms like uncontrolled shivering and “brain fog.” While these experiences are not pleasant, they are a sign that your own immune system is mounting a potent response to the vaccine, and it is important to note that these side effects are, in fact, short-lived, in that they last one or two days at the most. Contracting COVID-19 and the repercussions of that virus is infinitely worse.
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