# Who’s been vaccinated? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [December 20, 2020, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473 "2020-12-20T19:23:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 31
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/602 "2021-03-25T20:03:30Z")
What about the one that said, “we know that it is currently effective against the variants that we’re seeing around the world as well.” No “could” in that one. Come back with cites of your own that counter mine. Until then, I’m done here. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/603 "2021-03-25T20:22:56Z")
> **[Covid-19 vaccine effectiveness affected by variants](https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/comment/covid-19-vaccine-effectiveness-affected-by-variants/)** > > The effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccinations is being impacted by the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants. This could become more problematic as the virus continues to spread, increasing its chance to mutate. These variants could affect not only the... But I’m done. This is not strange news that you should be disputing. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/604 "2021-03-25T20:45:57Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I am pretty sleepy. Is the cause of this 1) that I went to bed too late last night 2) a reaction to the vaccine 3) a reaction to relief at having had the vaccine 4) the result of my having read that some people react to the second Pfizer by being really sleepy? Choose any one, or up to four – I got my 2nd Pfizer shot on Tuesday. Except for arm soreness, I felt fine that day. Wednesday, though, whoa. It took a lot of effort to walk from room to room. I had to rest after any exertion. I wasn’t sleepy, just felt exhausted. I slept 11 hours last night and still feel really tired today but not quite as bad. My best friend had had the same reaction last week, so I had made sure I had food available that I wouldn’t have to cook just in case this happened. You might consider that in case you have the same reaction tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/605 "2021-03-25T21:32:01Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > I had made sure I had food available that I wouldn’t have to cook just in case this happened. You might consider that in case you have the same reaction tomorrow. Yes, I’ve thought of that. I’m making a large pot of chicken soup with rice tonight – and if I’d been too out of it to do that tonight, there’s some in the freezer. (The original plan was to make the soup last night, but I wound up doing some other things that involved moving moderately heavy things around which I wanted to get out of the way before the shot.) Also other stuff I could eat without cooking. As long as I can manage to feed the cats, I’m OK. And in the unlikely chance that I can’t, a friend will check if she hasn’t heard from me. But I’m not expecting anything worse than maybe a sore arm and/or no strength, better go back to bed. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/606 "2021-03-25T23:10:33Z")
And remember **Dr.Sonof BippityBoppityBoo** advised his own mother to take Tylenol/acetaminophen if she started to feel any malaise. [just not any anti-inflammatories like Motrin, Aleve, naproxen or ibuprofen]. Keep yourself comfortable with the Tylenol, well-hydrated and eat both healthy foods and foods that nourish your spirit. A tipple or two won’t hurt either. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/607 "2021-03-25T23:29:28Z")
Just got my first Pfizer shot today. My arm is kind of sore but otherwise no issues. April 15th for my second shot. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/608 "2021-03-25T23:32:18Z")
Tylenol does absolutely nothing for me. Well hydrated and healthy foods that nourish the spirit – that I can do. The tipple is a distinct possibility; but would make either sleepiness or headache worse, I would think. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/609 "2021-03-25T23:49:24Z")
Why not anti-inflammatories, out of curiosity? (I hadn’t heard that recommendation so I took an ibuprofen for sore arm after my first shot and it didn’t seem to do me any harm.) ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/610 "2021-03-26T00:00:12Z")
One ibuprofen for a sore arm is highly unlikely to have suppressed much of the immune system response you were going for so don’t worry that you’ve somehow deprived yourself of the benefit of the vaccination but it is better to avoid anti-inflammatories when you are going immune response building. The jury is still out on this and certain has been yet studied directly re Covid vaccines because there just hasn’t been time yet. More recently, a [study](https://jvi.asm.org/content/early/2021/01/14/JVI.00014-21) published this month in the Journal of Virology found that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) — which include ibuprofen — reduced the production of antibodies and other aspects of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2. Antibodies are proteins made by the immune system to fight viruses like SARS-CoV-2. The COVID-19 vaccines stimulate the body to produce antibodies that specifically target the coronavirus without causing disease. The authors of this study said that this raises the possibility that NSAIDs might also affect the immune response to coronavirus vaccination. But additional studies would be needed to know for certain. Some earlier [researchTrusted Source](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5027726/) in the laboratory suggests that fever-reducing pain medications may blunt the antibody response to vaccination, but it’s not clear what this means in the real world. More research is needed, of course. But COVID-19 vaccine studies that have already been done suggest that taking a pain reliever after injection, if needed, may not cause that much of a problem. The protocols for the late-stage clinical trials of the [Pfizer-BioNTech](https://pfe-pfizercom-d8-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/2020-09/C4591001_Clinical_Protocol.pdf) and [Moderna-NIAID](https://www.modernatx.com/sites/default/files/mRNA-1273-P301-Protocol.pdf)coronavirus vaccines didn’t prevent people from taking pain-relieving medications if they felt they needed it. Even with that, those studies still showed that both vaccines have a high efficacy rate: [95 percentTrusted Source](https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/recs/grade/covid-19-pfizer-biontech-vaccine.html) for Pfizer-BioNTech and [94.1 percentTrusted Source](https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/recs/grade/covid-19-moderna-vaccine.html) for Moderna-NIAID. Knowing what is known so far, if I was uncomfortable and I took Tylenol and it didn’t work, would I then take ibuprofen? Yes, I would (juggling the degree of discomfort, headache, fever, etc.). For just a sore arm, I wouldn’t, but fever and malaise, more than a nagging headache, yes. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/611 "2021-03-26T01:00:59Z")
I asked the nurse about this explicitly today, since i, too, find Tylenol completely useless for pain. (Although i understand it’s good for fever. But I’ve tended not to try to reduce mild fever when I’m sick, on the theory that it’s helpful. And i can’t recall ever having a fever when I’m not sick…) She told me it was fine to take ibuprofen, but they recommend Tylenol because the usual problem is fever. Anyhow, right now i just have a sore arm, which i intend to ignore, while sleeping on the other side. At least so far, it’s not nearly enough pain that i need to treat it. I have heard that Ibuprofen and other Nsaids may be bad to take when coming down with actual covid, as they may dampen the helpful immune response. I didn’t ask the nurse about that explicitly with respect to the vaccine, but what you say makes a lot of sense. I’ll try to go with broth and sleep. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/612 "2021-03-26T02:03:39Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > One ibuprofen for a sore arm is highly unlikely to have suppressed much of the immune system response you were going for so don’t worry that you’ve somehow deprived yourself of the benefit of the vaccination but it is better to avoid anti-inflammatories when you are going immune response building. The jury is still out on this and certain has been yet studied directly re Covid vaccines because there just hasn’t been time yet. [. . .] > More research is needed, of course. But COVID-19 vaccine studies that have already been done suggest that taking a pain reliever after injection, if needed, may not cause that much of a problem. The advice I’ve seen was not to take anything before the shot but that if you had symptoms afterwards taking ibuprofen etc. is OK. I’m not intending to unless I have a lot of pain, though – most likely only if it’s headache pain, unless it’s extremely bad. A sore arm is just a sore arm, but a headache makes it really hard to be comfortable. So far only a very slight soreness in the arm; just barely above the level of possibly imagining it, and not noticeable at all unless I think about it. Still moderately sleepy; will probably go to bed soon, and quite possibly sleep late if my well-hydrated bladder will let me. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/613 "2021-03-26T02:50:21Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > it is better to avoid anti-inflammatories when you are going immune response building. Interesting. When I went for my (J&J) shot yesterday morning, I was warned that I might experience fever or chills. I asked if it was okay to take pain reliever if that happened, and was told I could take Tylenol or ibuprofin. As it turned out, I haven’t experienced anything beyond mild soreness at the injection site, so I haven’t taken anything. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/614 "2021-03-26T07:03:21Z")
Got AstraZeneca yesterday. Sore arm and headache this morning. However, I’m on my period have had the headache on an off since yesterday so might not be related. No fever, so far. ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/615 "2021-03-26T07:52:58Z")
Received first Moderna dose yesterday morning (Thursday). The injection felt like one of the lighter ones I’ve ever had, although that was likely technique. No burning after injection, no soreness or muscle tightness until several hours later (in the evening and after a nap, so normal fatigue and/or laying on that arm may have been factors). The soreness is mild at best; we’ll see what tomorrow brings. No hint of a fever so far. My follow-up is supposed to be April 22nd, although no appointment has yet been set. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/616 "2021-03-26T10:27:13Z")
Got my first Moderna shot yesterday; wife goes in for hers this afternoon. Like **tripthicket** , I thought it was one of the less painful shots I’ve ever received. I had 10-15 minutes of arm soreness last night around bedtime, but moving my shoulder and massaging the area seemed to help alleviate it. It wasn’t even all that bad; like a bad bruise with a little stiffness. FL announced last week they were lowering the eligibility age to 50 beginning this past Monday, so Monday morning I hit the Publix web site and was able to score appointments less than a half-hour from our house. I set the search area for, “Miami-Dade (Homestead),” which I think helped; I suspect fewer Miamians were looking that far south for appointments. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/617 "2021-03-26T13:14:14Z")
I’m an initiated member of the club. Pfizer, yesterday. Sore arm, perhaps a brief period of very low fever last night. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/618 "2021-03-26T15:33:32Z")
Got my first Moderna shot yesterday morning. I felt a bit crummy yesterday evening, but fine this morning (so far). Do have a bit of sore arm, though. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/619 "2021-03-26T21:43:10Z")
I had my first Pfizer shot last Wednesday. Absolutely no side effects whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/620 "2021-03-26T22:11:56Z")
I’m in! One and done with the J&J vaccine today. I feel a bit tired, 5 hours later, but otherwise good. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473/621 "2021-03-27T13:26:54Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I don’t have a selfie, but I have the shot. Got my second shot on Thursday. Christ almighty. Took another Clonozepam, and learned that I need to tell my doctor never to prescribe me that again. Didn’t do a lick of good. It was a drive-through clinic. My wife drove, my eight-year-old sat in the back. Seeing my growing dread (I tried to block it with earbuds, unsuccessfully), she gave me her plush kangaroo to hold. When the shot came, the nurse wasn’t as good as my first nurse, and I _felt_ it, and was absolutely full of panic and terror, my feet drumming on the car floor and me muttering “okayokayokayokayokay” until I opened my eyes and realized that some time back my wife had parked the car. “I guess I fainted again,” I said, but she told me I hadn’t, that my eyes had remained open. So that’s a new thing: I just lost a few minutes between feeling the shot and being in the parking spot. Dread, terror, panic, humiliation. Vaccination’s done. This motherfucker better not be an annual thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473.md?page=30) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-been-vaccinated/928473.md?page=32)