COVID-19 Vaccinations - did you experience any side effects?

[thomas]

Today, my wife and I have finally received our second shot of Moderna vaccines. After the first jab, we both suffered severe pain in our arms that lasted for several days. Many of our family, friends and acquaintances reported more serious side effects after their second shot: fever (in one case almost 40° degrees), fatigue, numbness, headaches, etc. It's afternoon, and we're still feeling quite fine, apart from the usual numbness in our arms; I actually went back to work after the vaccination.

Out of curiosity: did any of you suffer side effects after the first or second shot? How was it for you?

Disclaimer: I don't want to turn this into a discussion of whether vaccines are good or bad; I'm just interested in your personal accounts of side effects.

 

[Lothor]

Slight stiffness in the upper arm the day after the first injection.
A feeling of a heavy body and lethargy about 36-48 hours after the second injection. No fever after either injection.

Mrs Lothor had to take a day off work because of a high temperature after her second injection.

Both of us had the Pfizer injection.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

As usual , I was backwards. My first Moderna shot made me feel like I had the flu for two days , really bad chills , no energy and no appetite. The second just gave me a sore arm. I had heard the second shot bothered a lot of people , but I did not expect the first one to nail me like it did.

 

[johnnyG]

Wife and I got pfizerized. Nothing at all for me, complete range of movement, etc. Wife may have had some tenderness at the injection site, but that's about it. No difference for 1st and 2nd.

 

[mdchachi]

Moderna: My wife had zero reactions to both shots. I had almost nothing on the first. On the second, I had a headache and some fatigue for a day starting about 6 hours after the shot.
Pfizer: My son was down for a day starting a couple hours after the second shot -- fatigue, achy -- and went back to bed.

You're the first I've heard mention "severe pain." None of us had anything beyond minor soreness in our arms.

 

[thomas]

You're the first I've heard mention "severe pain." None of us had anything beyond minor soreness in our arms.

"Severe" was probably the wrong choice of words, however, both of us could neither sleep on our left side nor raise our left arms for several days. The Japanese media called it the "Moderna arm". Tonight, my wife felt a bit indisposed and went to bed at 8 with headaches.

 

[Petaris]

I had some soreness in the arm I got the first shot in, same as I get for the flu shot. The second shot I had nothing. I had Pfizer.

I had heard that those who react worse it is because they have already had COVID-19 and so the body recognizes it when you get the shot and has a stronger reaction. That is also supposed to be why the second shot affects people more than the first. I don't know if that is true or not though.

 

[mdchachi]

Disclaimer: I don't want to turn this into a discussion of whether vaccines are good or bad; I'm just interested in your personal accounts of side effects.

Keep in mind that no matter the "severe" side effects you read about here, on balance they are far less than the worst effects from Covid itself.

 

[nahadef]

I've heard over and over that Moderna has much harsher side effects than Pfizer.

I got my first shot of Pfizer, and simply had a tender shoulder for the day. I'm taking the day off for shot number two.

 

[thomas]

I've heard over and over that Moderna has much harsher side effects than Pfizer. I got my first shot of Pfizer, and simply had a tender shoulder for the day. I'm taking the day off for shot number two.

I wish I had taken off! I have a busy day, but fortunately all telework from home. Mrs Thomas is down with a fever. Next time we'll get phiserized!

 

[TurkeySloth]

I didn't get any sleep the night of my J&J because drowsiness is a side effect and m body makes that type of stuff (Nyquil, etc.) wake me up.

 

[Dodgyeikewa]

Astrazennica - first jab left me super tired for the best part of a week. Second Jab - nothing.

 

[Toritoribe]

I got the 2nd shot the day before yesterday. I felt a little stiffness in the upper arm, but it's gone about 24 hours after the shot as same as the 1st shot. My wife had a fever the next day of the 2nd shot, but got well the next day, i.e., 2 days after the shot. (She has an immune system disease.) Pfizer, both of us.

 

[thomas]

My wife has relentlessly teased me for my "Moderna arm", which women seem to be more prone to develop. She had a high fever, too.

 

[Mansoor]

Yes, I did. I went to the vaccination centers two times and received the Chinese vaccine, Sinopharm. For the first time, I had only a slight weakness for half of a day. I think my weakness was because I smoked immediately after the vaccination.

After a month, I received the second vaccine (the same vaccine brand). The injector ordered me to sit somewhere for about 10 minutes inactively. I went to the clinic yard and sat under the shade of a tree motionless like a statue but I couldn't resist versus the temptation of smoking!


So I lit a cigarette, but suddenly I felt a type of intense weakness in my body. Cold sweat appeared on my forehead with a mild shaking in my legs.There was a probability of faint but I feared because I felt I was going to die!


Like most of the times that I situated in a difficulty occasionally, I swore to God to help me and save me. Fortunately, like always, the merciful God took my hand, and I passed the debilitating stress safely.


After the minutes, I got up to go to my mother's home to rest, but I couldn't walk steady and orderly. I was dizzy and leaned left and right. My legs were still powerless, and those could not tolerate my weight. I derived my old car (with a tight clutch and spiritless legs) to my mother's house while the streets and buildings were waving in front of my eyes.


When I reached home, I slept for several hours, but I was not balanced and well -being much for a week or more.

 

[Lothor]

Are you OK now?

 

[Mansoor]

I'm not sure. I was vaccinated about two months ago and from the time up to now, I feel I have some symptoms occasionally. I don't know whether those are relative to my working with the computer at night (usually up to morning) and shortage of sleep or those are relative to the second stage of vaccination. Somethings like occasional intermittent weakness, impatience, feeling of fever (not actual fever), symptoms like cold, and so on.

I sometimes think my body is fighting continuously with the corpse of the dead viruses that are in the vaccine. If it is so, it is a good war in my body! My defensive system makes a type of antibody in the fight with the dead viruses and thus finds readiness to confront any dangerous alive virus.

But I wonder why the engagement lasted so long, even against the inactive viruses. As I said before, two months have passed, but I still feel the mentioned symptoms (if they are side effects of the vaccination).

But as far as I asked some familiar persons who received the vaccine, they told me they are well totally and haven't had any sickness after the vaccination.

However, I am glad that I am now immune to Covid 19 disease after the vaccination.

 

[nahadef]

Next to nothing on shot two of Pfizer. I went to bed a little early, but I'd stayed in pajamas all day expecting something worse, so I was in the mood to sleep.

I'm so relieved to have it done with. Japan was way to slow, Suga is a horrible prime minister, but it's done.

 

[bentenmusume]

Pfizer for me. Had my first jab 8/19, felt absolutely nothing except some minor arm soreness.
Second on 9/9, felt some minor drowsiness/fatigue about 24 hours later, but it was gone by the next morning.

I'm so relieved to have it done with. Japan was way to slow, Suga is a horrible prime minister, but it's done.

Amen.

 

[mdchachi]

I am glad that I am now immune to Covid 19 disease after the vaccination.

Be careful because this is not true. Studies have shown that the vaccines greatly reduce severe illness and hospitalization but it doesn't make people entirely immune. I'm not sure about the Chinese one but I believe it's the same as the others in this respect.

 

[nice gaijin]

I got my first (Pfizer) shot back in mid-may. It gave me a sore arm for 2-3 days. I think I took a pre-emptive Tylenol and went to bed early the first day, but otherwise felt fine. Second shot a few weeks later, barely even got a sore arm. Both of my shots were administered at a local vaccination station set up at the fairgrounds, and the nurses (who each had decades of experience) were so skilled I almost didn't feel the needle at all. I was expecting more of a reaction, but they told me that this is the first vaccine where people have been complaining of LACK of side effects, like we have to get a little sick to "earn" our immunity. People are silly.

As an American, we got a head-start on vaccine access that ramped up more quickly than I expected. A national rollout is no small feat, and it seemed like the previous administration's plan was to leave it mostly to the individual states to manage their vaccination efforts, so I thought we'd be staggering and stumbling through providing doses to the people. Despite not being an "essential worker" or in any "at-risk" group, I got mine about 2-3 months earlier than I had predicted when the vaccines were first announced, which makes me feel both grateful and privileged. It's embarrassing how many of my countrymen have snubbed the vaccine due to all the misconceptions about it, and locked us into continued lockdowns and mandates. Despite our supposed wealth and power and access to information and medicine, we seem to have learned little in the past century; America's death toll has now surpassed that of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic (now fueled almost wholly by unvaccinated patients), while the rest of the world is faring considerably better despite delayed access to vaccines. This, I believe, is the cost of making public health a politically divisive subject.

It'll probably be a little while, but I'll take the booster when it's available to me, as I expect covid to become an endemic disease that will never fully "burn through" the population. I've had enough friends who have had it to know that I don't want it, not to mention friends in the medical field with first-hand experience of the worst of things. I'll continue to protect myself and others as best I can while it's still surging through the community.

 

[Mansoor]

The problem is that the vaccines have been made in a short time in an emergency and low-systemically way, among Pfizer. I'm worried these vaccines have had some unknown harmful side effects on people in the future.

Also, the virus changes itself genetically frequently, and the vaccines can't provide a complete immune system against the new ones in the body.

Our knowledge about this virus is low and it is not clear whether that is a new one or a mutated generation of other viruses (if it is not a manipulated one and has not escaped from a microbiological laboratory and found its way to China!).

However, having a vaccine is better than having nothing!

I'm not a medical personage to opine about the vaccines scientifically, but I think a vaccine should pass from many examinations during the years, and making a vaccine during a year is not comparable with the vaccines that pass from many tests.

I think there is not a considerable difference between Russian, Chinese, Iranian, American, and British vaccines, and all follow one medical technique approximately.

Anyhow, the effort of medical experts is appreciable that made people safe against the virus for about 90%.

 

[mdchachi]

I'm not a medical personage to opine about the vaccines scientifically, but I think a vaccine should pass from many examinations during the years, and making a vaccine during a year is not comparable with the vaccines that pass from many tests.

The vaccines that were created within a year, were all built on years and decades of study and research. At least in the U.S., they pass the same procedures and tests.

all follow one medical technique approximately.

Actually Pfizer and Moderna use an mRna-based technique that is relatively new and has not been used on a widescale until now.

 

[Mansoor]

producing the vaccine of covid-19 in some countries and its satisfactory result showed that making a vaccine in a short time is possible, nevertheless, it is not acceptable as a perfect process in the medical field, especially in regards to the series of clinical tests that usually takes long several years.

However, medical science agrees that this type of unusual vaccine production in the emergency situation of fatal Covid-19 pandemic that threatens the soul of millions of the world people is the only solution, though is not according to the medical standards.

 

[mdchachi]

though is not according to the medical standards.

Well maybe for the Chinese vaccine but for the American/European vaccines I don't think it's true. They followed all the normal protocols. The only difference was that they gave provisional approval to deploy the vaccines before all long-term trials were performed.
Really, it's a lesson on what can be accomplished with devoted efforts and money. Just think of what could be done with other diseases if they got the same attention and funding.