In this era of mass coronavirus vaccinations, it’s a question that keeps emerging: “I just got my shot, and I don’t feel any side effects, and no signs of pain. Does that mean it didn’t work?”
Even experts have found themselves wondering — but not really. “I have personal experience. I received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine. And the second dose, I didn’t feel a thing — and I wondered,” said Dr. Paul Simon, chief science officer for Los Angeles County.
The doctor didn’t wonder long, though. Regardless of whether or not the vaccine triggered side effects — or their severity — the vaccine is still working, he and other experts emphatically say.
The flip side: What about if side effects are particularly gnarly? If you get hit by a fever, fatigue or headache — particularly after the second shot — did something go wrong?
That’s normal, too, Simon said. It’s a sign that the body is beginning the build up its defenses against the virus.
Either way, experts warn against letting your imagination stray. People simply react differently to vaccines.
“Although having symptoms is a sign that the immune system is reacting to the vaccine, the absence of symptoms does not mean that the vaccine is not working,” San Bernardino County Health Officer Dr. Michael A. Sequeira said.
“Follow-up studies with antibody measures and epidemiology studies have shown that the overwhelming majority of those who experience no symptoms after the vaccine have developed immunity,” he added.
Of course, if your side effects range beyond the routine, or don’t fade after a few days, you should seek medical attention, experts say.
The effects
Researchers separate side effects into “systemic” and “localized.”
Localized reactions to the vaccine include redness, swelling and pain.
Systemic reactions include fever, chills, nausea, muscle pain, fatigue and headache.
In the clinical trials for the Pfizer-BioNTech two-dose vaccine, 3.7% of participants between 18 and 55 had a low-grade fever within seven days of the first shot and 15.8% after the second dose. About 42% felt some form of a headache after the first dose and about 52% after the second. About 62% felt some form of fatigue after the second dose. Most people between 18 and 55 reported some form of pain, ranging from mild (51.1%) to severe (1.0%) after the first dose and not far off from that after the second dose. Very few people experienced redness or swelling.
If you did have side effects, the Centers for Disease Control says those early symptoms should go away within a few days.
Most people have a mild reaction, if they have one at all, according to Riverside County Public Health officials. That reaction is often based on age, the specific vaccine type, and what a person’s immune system has seen before and is more prone to react to.
“Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is far better than rolling the dice with catching it, even if you’re young and even if you’re healthy,” warned a statement from the department.
Is there a test to prove it worked?
Not convinced? Want to get some kind of antibody test to make sure the vaccine is working? Well, you could, but Dr. Simon counsels against it .
“There’s so much variability in the antibody tests that are commercially available,” he said. “Some test for certain kinds of antibodies but not other kinds of antibodies and so there may be a mismatch between what the test is looking for and what kind of antibody response you would have gotten with the vaccine.”
He also noted that it’s not all about antibody production. Many vaccines seek to put a deactivated germ into our systems, but vaccines developed to fight COVID-19 are special in that they stimulate “stimulate” other parts of the immune system.
Vaccines with mRNA, once in our blood, give instructions to our cells to make a protein that propels a kick-butt immune response if we ever catch the virus. Specialized T-cells — “memory” cells — are activated to “remember” how to fight the virus if it ever comes back.
Simon said that’s a broader benefit.
Bottom line, he added: “I want to reassure everybody, that even if you didn’t experience those side effects, you have a very high likelihood that you have excellent protection. I would not read anything into the fact that you did or did not have side effects.”
Source: Orange County Register
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