Is anyone else feeling weakness-fatigue as a longterm Covid vaccine side effect? I got my shot 11 days ago and, although I experienced no fever and almost no soreness whatsoever, I still am feeling at half energy ish and feel the need to lie down at almost all times at home. I’m fortunate that I have a remote work-from-home job, but there is often less energy to do anything vigorous like take loads of laundry to the laundromat, buy groceries or run errands. I tested negative for Covid and have no signs of any other disease. It’s not about sleep deprivation or nutrition or anything; I’ve slept the same or more as before and have been eating healthier than usual. I didn’t feel like this prior to the vaccine.
-GROANS-
Yeah, I’m too young to get a pneumonia shot without paying a premium. I did once, at my mother’s suggestion, since I’m prone to the same post-viral bronchitis she is, but I almost couldn’t move that arm for 72 hours.
Doesn’t mean I won’t get it when I hit the age bracket, but damn that sucked.
Following up with @puzzlegal’s comment though, I did have another friend who got jabbed yesterday and they too reported a milder response than prior shots, and they haven’t had a recent case of Covid either. So that’s at least another + 1 for the anecdote that the current batch is less exhausting.
This afternoon I was running another degree or so of fever, and the resultant fatigue, but still don’t feel -sick- just tired. Which is good. I have to motivate myself for a day with the in-laws tomorrow and Monday is of course far too soon.
–wanders off to ponder the risk of Four-armed moties–
I’ve not heard of that before. I had long-term fatigue from covid, and weirdly, what finally cleared it up was drinking coffee and over-scheduling myself.
Another anecdote - my wife got her Covid booster yesterday (she’d had the flu shot 2 weeks prior) and 6-8 hours later got all her usual responses, fever, aches, low energy but twitchy. Still ongoing this morning. But for her, this is actually on the milder side of her vaxx reactions. The symptoms are all the same, granted, but the intensity is only 70-80% as bad as some of the previous shots. And when she had the flu shot two weeks ago it was also very mild for her. So win!?
I had my Covid and flu shots about 10 days ago in the same shoulder. Aside from the usual sore arm, I had no real side effects this year.
How did it end up for you? Did your fatigue go away?
I had the full initial series in spring of 2021, and boosters in each of the last 4 years in November’ish timeframe. Never any side effects for me other than one night of sore arm and fatigue that goes away the next day.
Yes, I got the Novavax in September, and the fatigue pretty much cleared up.
OK, good to hear. I still haven’t seen any effects of the covid vaccines except some younger people get myocarditis, and that usually clears up quickly with no other issues.
Having said that, at this point, not many people get the boosters beyond the elderly & immunocompromised. I doubt many people like me get the boosters anymore.
I got the Moderna booster about a month ago (along with a flu shot). FWIW, though I’m not yet old enough to be “elderly,” I am immuno-compromised.
And, I’m thankful that I got the booster: I got COVID a week and a half ago. It’s been, for the most part, like a bad cold, with the bonuses of intermittent sinus headaches and nausea. I imagine that, if I hadn’t gotten the booster, I might well have become even sicker.
Finally got my booster today. My last infection was in July. I wanted to get the shot last month, but I was going to have a hard time with potential down-time from side effects. I took the gamble, and thankfully seem to have won. Tomorrow is the first day I’ve had in a while that I don’t need to be available for taking care of unexpected family issues, so I got the shot today.
Last booster I had came with no side effects. The previous ones gave me some fairly serious fatigue. I’m hoping for more of nothing 
I got my COVID booster (Pfizer) on Thursday morning. Lost 2 days to chills, fever, headache, nausea, sore muscles and joints. Finally back in the saddle today since around noon. About the same as every other COVID vax.
Flu shot is scheduled for the 19th, then tetanus two weeks after that. I’m getting all my vaccines up to date in dreaded anticipation of what comes in January 2025.
Your Local Epidemiologist has recommendations for timing of covid boosters, based on a recent paper.
If you haven’t been recently infected , early autumn is optimal for your Covid vaccine.
- The best time to get a booster is 2.7 months before the peak of a wave (assuming no recent infections). It can lead to a five-fold lower risk of infection.
- In the U.S., the winter peak has consistently been the first week of January. This means an annual booster on September 15th provides the lowest yearly probability of infection.
you’ve been recently infected with Covid-19 , delaying the shot can significantly improve its effectiveness. For example, if you were infected in August, your best bet is to delay to February.
Data from Townsend et al. Supplement; Table created by YLE
Here’s a direct link to the paper by Townsend et al:
I received the Moderna Spikevax booster on September 25, so about the right time.
Lots of shoulder pain. Chills for more than half the night - had to get up and grab a sweatshirt. Still have a headache but that might be from the side effects as much as the vaccine itself.
I should note that I have a trip to Vegas in mid January and a cruise in the end of January. I had wanted to get this shot a few weeks before my Disney trip, but, well, life happened. At least I should have the added protection for those trips.
Looking at the graphic, it looks like my timing matches the data above… I was infected in July. Yay for accidental compliance!
We came back from the cruise on Monday. Monday night my cruise-roommate told me she had a sore throat and might be getting sick. By Tuesday she was definitely sick.
She and I were together basically 24 hours a day for the previous 10 days, and neither of us went out Monday after we got back home. I was trying to figure out how she got sick and I didn’t.
Yesterday, she tested positive for COVID. And I realized she did not get the latest vaccine shot, while I did. I strongly suspect that it protected me.
I don’t even like to speculate things like that, anymore, myself. Not that doing so is bad, I just never (knowingly) got Covid. I may be asystematic, but until I have a real supported idea of the variables that played a part in something that I admittingly have very surface-level understanding of (why I appeal to experts), I just, personally, shy away from even vague assertions. I just settle with, “I don’t know”. Like I said, it’s how I choose to be in an age of so much misinformation… I’d rather not know than be wrong, unless I absolutely need to make a guess.
There’s a certain amount of wisdom in not making unsupported assumptions.
But assume arguendo that both you and he had the same experience with sick GFs post-cruise. And you and he are, some months later, considering the next COVID shot. Does your prior experience provide any input into your decision-making?
If so, what and why? If not, why not?
Got my last one late August 2024, and am now at CVS waiting for my next booster. It has been 7 months since that last one. Guess I should get a TDAP too but my last one just floored me, so I’ll get that next month.
So what exactly is the current situation? Since the first covid vaccines became available there has been a flood of media articles every six months (spring and fall) about new boosters becoming available–but nothing seems to be happening this spring.
So there is no updated booster, but the high risk groups should have another shot of what they had in the fall–or what?
I went in for this booster because I got a text from CVS saying it had been over six months since my last booster, and folks over 65 should now get another one.