I got my first Pfizer today, too, at 12:22 p.m. (but who’s keeping track?) Barely felt the shot.
Four hours in, there is a bit of tenderness at the injection spot.
Frankly, I hope I have some side effects. Makes me believe my body is responding to the vaccine – though I have no foundational information to think this is the case.
So far, nuttin’ much.
I was told my county public health department will contact me after 14 days to let me schedule my next injection. I hope to get my second shot on April 15th.
Your county health department almost certainly has a phone number. Call them up.
Update, now three days after second Pfizer: slightly sore arm, beginning the first evening and gone by morning of day 3, and never very sore. Very sleepy the day after, but able to function as long as I wasn’t doing anything requiring a lot of concentration. Sleepy the second evening, but that might just have been the result of coming off a fairly long Zoom call; it was a low-energy-needed family call, but it was still a Zoom. No symptoms I can notice today.
Piece of cake. And I am very glad not to have needle phobias; LHoD, that sounds horrible. Good on your eight-year-old for exhibiting useful compassion; and on you for illustrating to her courage under stress.
I completed my 2nd with my girlfriend Friday, about 5pm. I noticed some soreness on my arm around midnight, she did not. By the next morning, about 7am, she felt awful but I just felt slightly more tired than usual. By 11am I was getting more and more fatigued, and when I left work at 5pm I felt like I had not slept at all the previous night. I felt normal Sunday morning but the effects hit hard and fast while they lasted. She had a similar symptoms, but also a slight fever and very bad body aches. This was pfizer
Having had zero symptoms so far I agree. Despite enjoying not being under the weather I’d sort of like some evidence I wasn’t shot with placebo or stuff that had been improperly stored and had been inadvertently neutralized.
I imagine I can get an IgG antibody test a month after the second shot to confirm I got a useful response. In fact I’m planning on chasing down this issue.
Yeah, my arm was just sore enough to reassure me that something significant was done to it. And it didn’t hurt at all until several hours later, so I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just the physical trauma of the injection. I was worried about my immune system, and really welcomed that discomfort.
@puzzlegal: Congrats on having a robust response. Here’s hoping this is the only one you’ll need to muster.
@Thudlow_Boink: I have no firm idea. But it’s an issue I’ll research tomorrow.
IANA biomedical anything, but it seems “logical” that an aggressive bodily response would produce noticeable symptoms. And that an ineffective injection would produce no symptoms. It’s the possibilities in the middle I have no clue about.
What I don’t know is whether an aggressive response or even a mild response is a good or a bad thing. Recognizing that in the early days it appeared that many of the most dangerous cases of COVID were the result of an overactive immune response, cytokine storm, etc. Not the vaccination itself would provoke a dangerous response, but that evidence that your individual body really hates SARS-nCOV-2 might be more of a bad thing than a good thing were you ever to be infected for real.
Anecdotally, quite a lot of people report no symptoms. And the overall effectiveness of the vaccines suggest that at least of lot of the people with no symptoms must be getting protection. And there are lots of immunizations that don’t typically produce noticeable side effects.
Yes. Having no side effect reaction is certainly not proof of ineffectiveness; plenty of people in the trials and in the rollout since report no side effects. But no side effect reaction also doesn’t rule out ineffectiveness.
As to my annual flu shot I’m not too concerned whether it worked or not. As to COVID I’d rather be sure. If I learn anything useful in the next couple days I’ll sure share it here.
FWIW, I had no side effects with either Pfizer shot and I do not recall ever having any side effects with the last few flu and tetanus shots I recall. (Actually, no memory of side effects with any vax ever for me.)
I received my second dose of Moderna on Friday. Started feeling off on Friday at bedtime and that continued through the day Saturday. Sunday morning, felt great then a bout of chills and fever spike for a couple of hours. Symptoms were very responsive to Tylenol. Today feeling pretty much normal. I for one am glad to have had some proof that my body was putting up a fight.
While I did stay in bed for a couple of days, I wouldn’t say I was “sick as a dog”. I was achy, headachy, feverish and fatigued. There was no intestinal distress and I didn’t really have to stay in bed, I did because I could. I could have “soldiered through it” if needed.
If being unable to function normally the next day were the rule rather than the exception, people should be advised when they sign up to schedule their vaccinations at a time when they can take off work the next day. I don’t remember seeing such warnings.
