Anyone had the J&J vaccine? Is there a reaction?

The Quarantine Zone
1

I’m scheduled for it tomorrow.

Indiana wasn’t going to open the vaccine to people 50-55 for another several weeks, but then the J&J vaccine became available, and we got a lot more vaccine than we were projected to have at this point, so suddenly, I’m on the list.

I’m getting it at the Brickyard, of all places.

Here’s the thing: it’s about a 25 minute walk to the Brickyard from where I live, and it will be about 50°F. It’s about 10 minutes by bicycle. It’s about 4 minutes by car, but it’s a difficult drive, because there will be a line, and two roundabouts. I might actually end up waiting in line in my car, whereas, I could walk in much more easily if I didn’t have my car.

If I drive, I might actually need to leave like, 1/2 hour before the appointment.

What I’m really wondering about, though, is the possibility that I might be a little “off” or dizzy afterwards.

I’ve never reacted to a vaccine (except when oral typhoid gave me the runs), but I’m hearing so many stories, I’m concerned-- enough that I’m not doing anything the rest of the day tomorrow, and I’m off Monday.

But actually, I haven’t heard anything at all about how people are reacting to the J&J vaccine. The mild flu symptoms from the other two are pretty famous, but I don’t know whether this happens with J&J.

Has anybody had the J&J, and how did you feel? Did it hit you right away, or did it take a few hours? Any reason not to be driving or biking right afterwards? would it be smarter to walk? Right now, I’m leaning toward biking. I can, of course, ask DH to drive me, but he’ll still have to deal with the traffic, and do something with himself while I’m in getting the shot. They don’t want you coming in with someone else if you don’t need someone with you.

I know there’s ample parking at the track, but still, I’d just as soon not drag him out if I don’t have to.

He suggested walking over, and Ubering back.

I really like walking, though, and for me, 50°F is balmy, not to mention my appointment is at 3:20pm, when it should be about the warmest time of the day.

2

Subscribing to hear answers, as I’m getting it next week. Supposedly reactions have been less severe, but it’s early days.

3

I can’t find anything but anecdota regarding reactions from the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and of course any vaccine has the potential of inciting a histamine reaction, but if you don’t typically have reactions to influenza or other common vaccines your odds are good that you will only have a mild initial reaction to this vaccine, though the effects as the immune system responds to the actual S-protein appear to be highly variable (and are general taken as a sign of effective immunogenicity).

One of the hypotheses regarding why the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines is that there is actually an ‘allergic’ histamine reaction to the lipid nanoparticle that delivers the mRNA material. Given the immune system sensitization due to the proliferation of polymer nanoparticles that are now ever-present in water supplies and elsewhere that seems plausible although I haven’t seen any clinical research actually establishing this, and even with these vaccines adverse reactions are within the safety threshold norm for influenza vaccines. The J&J vaccine is an adenovirus vector and so would not have that particular issue, and there is some theorizing that the adenovirus may act as an adjuvant, making it more effective with the first dose; there is some evidence for this with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine as well but it isn’t firmly established yet.

If you can walk or ride a bike, and then have the option to have someone pick you up if you have a mildly adverse reaction that should cover all of your bases. Note that for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines there is a 15 minute hold protocol for post-vaccination observation to ensure that any serious adverse reactions receive immediate treatment (epinephine injection followed by transportation to an ER); I don’t know if the same protocol exists for the J&J vaccine but I would assume it to be similar.

Stranger

4

Yes, 15 minutes, or 30 minutes for people who’ve had reactions before.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/janssen/index.html
(under “How to Administer”)

5

A good friend of mine got the J&J vaccine yesterday morning. He reported, yesterday morning, that his arm was pretty sore, which reminded him of the reaction when he got the yellow fever vaccine while he was in the Navy. By about 3 hours after the vaccine, he was feeling generally tired and crappy, and took a nap.

As of this morning, he reports that the arm pain is much less, and while he’s still a little tired, he’s feeling better.

6

I think I’m good on pain prevention. I have meloxicam for arthritis in my knee, and tramadol to prevent bounce-back migraines-- I also have sumatriptan for migraines in the first place. I think I’ll take a dose of each with me, and maybe some caffeine as well. Caffeine helps me with pain-- mostly with headaches, but with other pain as well.

ETA: I’m also going to be able to sleep as much as I want, or just go to bed really early on Sunday; DH isn’t working.

7

Just don’t take anything beforehand.

8

I did know about that, but thanks anyway.

9

I was told not to drive for 40 minutes after the AZ vaccine. No idea if that will apply to the J&J vaccine but it’s a possibility.

10

Good enough. If I walk, I will be in a well-populated area the whole time. And I will have my phone with me.

ETA: I think I will take a glucometer with me as well. The only times I have come close to passing out, it’s been from low blood sugar. I haven’t heard of vaccines affecting blood sugar, but carrying the kit is not hard.

11

Good luck!

12

Thanks!

13

How does drive thru vaccine sites work with the 15/30 minute waiting time?

14

I took my 91yo neighbor to get her shot (J&J) yesterday. It’s an intramuscular shot so they go deep with the needle, and she said she could feel some stinging because of that, during the wait time, but no other effects. Today her arm is a little sore but she’s feeling fine.

15

The CDC recommends that vaccination sites have enough parking space that you can pull off to the side.

16

I have never had a vaccine reaction, except, like I said, a little diarrhea from the oral typhoid, and I have mild IBS, so not totally unexpected. I don’t get anything, not even a sore arm, from flu shots-- I don’t even get a sore arm from adult DPT boosters. Heck, when the Army shot me up with a duplicate of every childhood booster, plus all the childhood vaccines that had been invented since I was a child, in one day, I had no reaction.

With traveling, duplicate boosters from the military, plus all the new shots, and some duplicate shots I got in high school due to incomplete records, and in college when there was an outbreak of measles in a dorm, and it was just expedient to get the shot, not to mention some shots I had for work, if vaccines caused anything like autism, diabetes, or chronic fatigue, I’d have them all. I don’t.

The only vaccines I’ve never had are yellow fever, and Gardasil. Well, and COVID, but that changes tomorrow.

Still, I have decided to carry some Benadryl along with my painkillers and caffeine.

17

If there’s one thing the Brickyard has, it’s parking. I’m curious to know where the vaccines will actually be given. There are apartments at the Brickyard for the drivers, and some people who work there, or work for crews, or distributors. One of my best friends right after college had parents who, right after retiring from school teaching (HS), became distributors for Stant and Ideal. They traveled around to all the races, and supplied the drivers with radiator parts. Caps, clamps, hoses, etc.

I wonder if they are using the apartments, or setting up tents? The apartments have climate control, power, refrigerators, running water, bathrooms, comfortable places to sit. But I don’t know if anything is happening at the track right now.

18

My vaccine experience:
The state (IL) just turned the old Kmart in our town into a huge vaccination depot run by the natl guard. With a couple dozen check-in stations and corresponding nurses stations. It was all quite impressive. The was a slight delay for some unknown reason when we got to the nurse. All of the nurses had patients, but no vaccine. After a couple minutes wait the guy came out from the back and started dealing out the vaccines.
Each syringe has a tag with a bunch of info on it which I assume was batch info, which was meticulously recorded on the patients chart.

Overall, a very easy experience. Less than an hour, start to finish, including a 15 min waiting period. And, as I said, quite impressive.

19

In the Los Angeles drive through facility I used, they would have a several lines of cars, let a dozen at the head of each line through to the injection, then someone would come down the line checking on your paperwork (ID, appointment, and for the 2nd dose, vaccination card) followed by a nurse with the injection. Then we sat there for ~15 minutes before we were allowed to drive out There was no space set aside (or available from the size of the lot) to wait.

20

Hmmmm.

I wonder if they’re expecting everyone to drive at the Brickyard? It doesn’t say on the website that it’s specifically drive-through, but I would hate to not get the vaccine because I walked. On the other hand, not everyone has a car. Maybe it’s better to bike.