Happy to report my elderly dad, along with the rest of the folks at his assisted-living facility, received their second doze of the vaccine last week. He reported no side effects, not even a sore arm.
Unfortunately the mask requirement and ban on outside visitors will continue until the level of COVID activity in the outside world settles down a bit. So quality of life will continue to suck for a while, but at least he probably won’t get COVID now. Hoping things improve so that I can visit him later this year; it’s been a long time.
T + 47 hours. Temp is back down. My pattern in general suggests I could be back up 2 degrees this evening. No pain at site unless I press on it firmly.
Yes, I’d like to hit enough immunity to take care of medical appointments and see my MIL when her facility goes off quarantine again.
My 92 year old mother got the Moderna vaccine on Saturday. She woke up Sunday morning really sick. She has underlying conditions, and we wanted to make sure that it was the vaccination that made her sick (fever, pains all over her body, couldn’t stand up) and not other problems, so I called an ambulance. They took her to an ER (I couldn’t go), gave her an IV (she was dehydrated) and Tylenol for the fever, and they sent her home. This morning, she is feeling 100% better.
Neither of us had heard anything about a reaction like that.
A few years ago my mother (mid-90’s now) was hospitalized with a malady that the doctors couldn’t figure out. My sister told me that they suspected dehydration had contributed to it (among other symptoms she felt feverish and her sense of balance went south). My sister informed me that Mom “didn’t like to drink water” and she could barely get her to take a cup of tea every day. It wasn’t a symptom, it was the way she was. She didn’t like most liquid refreshment and that probably led to the dehydration, which contributed to whatever was causing her other symptoms.
I got my first jab an hour ago. The lady in front of me in line was asking for a left over shot (none available) and phone numbers of where to call to get an appointment because she didn’t have a computer.
Getting an appointment shouldn’t be this complicated.
It wasn’t until I was out in the parking lot that I realized that I could have offered to try to make her appointment for her, but that would be a stranger asking for private information which should be refused.
Until the pandemic, my 90+ parents went out socially more often and mixed with more people than I did. Golf club lunches, bridge competitions, drinks parties, picnic with the neighbours - I estimated they ate out with friends (often large groups) about 4 times a week.
Very anecdotal, but in the 20 or so folks that I know who have received their 2nd Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, period of 24-48 hours after the 2nd Moderna shot appears to the worst of the reactions. I’m getting my 2nd one tonight, so not looking forward to the rest of the week.
Interestingly, the older (70+) people I know, all in Florida getting the Pfizer vaccine had almost no reaction.
This. The elderly have a reduced sense of thirst, and it can cause chronically low fluid intake. Add in any sort of swallowing trouble (as from Parkinson’s), or anything that demotivates them to get out of bed for a drink (like vaccine-related malaise), and it’s easy for them to end up in the ER with a saline rehydration IV.
The older people aren’t having a strong reaction because their immune systems are weak? Or the fact that they aren’t having a strong reaction means the vaccine isn’t as effective, i.e., it’s not ramping up their immune systems?
I have read in medical sources that older people may not have a strong reaction because our immune systems are weaker. That said, 1. it seems speculative; 2. Moderna seems anecdotally to have a higher post-#2 side effect profile.
What I’ve read suggests to me that the immune response/reaction isn’t quite as strong, and the vaccine efficacy not quite so high in older patients.
The European Public Assessment Report for the Moderna vaccine (as we’re discussing Moderna) states (regarding a test to measure antibody response):
Peak median/mean binding antibody titres (day 43) induced by the 100 µg mRNA-1273 dose in the 18-54 YOA stratum were approximately 1.2-fold, 1.5-fold and 1.9-fold higher compared to the 55-64-year olds, 65-74-year olds and ≥75-year olds, respectively. Therefore, binding antibody levels declined in an age-dependent manner as expected, with more comparable neutralising activity across strata.
(See page 78 of this document (PDF). This is not my area of expertise, but it seems to be saying that older people have a slightly weaker immune response, at least by this measure.)
Does that mean lower protection? This PDF document includes what is essentially the doctors’ guide for the Moderna vaccine in Europe. I suggest you take a look at Table 2 on page 7 (which I can’t cut and paste with formatting). That shows a drop-of in efficacy from 95.6% in age 18-65, to 86.4% in age 65 and up. There’s also a freaky result for age over 75 (100%) which I assume is a fluke arising from low patient numbers in that group.
So it does appear to me that there is a slight difference. Whether it’s enough to make a difference in practice - I dunno.
This old lady thanks you and hopes for the best. My 2nd Moderna vaccine is scheduled for Feb 17.