Personal SARS-COV-2 vaccination experiences

[Dmmetler]

9 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Hmmm. That would make me nervous about the second shot, which is supposed to be much worse. Have you talked to anyone about that? 

I plan to call my immunologist on Monday and see what they recommend. I'm actually wondering if maybe I've been exposed enough since I have been teaching in person so that this was not the first immune response (maybe I never had enough viral load to get an active infection, due to the masking, Distancing, no shared materials, HEPA filtration, etc?). Or maybe my immune system is just being annoying. 

[Not_a_Number]

10 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

I plan to call my immunologist on Monday and see what they recommend. I'm actually wondering if maybe I've been exposed enough since I have been teaching in person so that this was not the first immune response (maybe I never had enough viral load to get an active infection, due to the masking, Distancing, no shared materials, HEPA filtration, etc?). Or maybe my immune system is just being annoying. 

That seems like a good idea. 

[Danae]

Twelve hours post shot my arm hurt enough to wake me up at 2 am.  Twenty-four hours post shot it feels like I was punched (hard) in the arm and the area around it is hot, but no other symptoms.

 

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, Danae said:

Twelve hours post shot my arm hurt enough to wake me up at 2 am.  Twenty-four hours post shot it feels like I was punched (hard) in the arm and the area around it is hot, but no other symptoms.

First or second shot? 

Also, ouch. 

[Danae]

8 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

First or second shot? 

Also, ouch. 

First.

It hurts enough that I can’t really forget about it, or get distracted enough not to notice it, but it isn’t bothering me, because I’m just so happy to have gotten the vaccine.  It’s like a constant damn that hurts and that means life will be back to normal sooner, hurray!

[Danae]

23 minutes ago, kand said:

Does anyone know how long is too long to consider a reaction a normal immune response to vaccine? I’m beginning to be concerned about my dad. He had his shot Tuesday morning, snd I think it wasn’t until Thursday he started feeling bad. Achey, fever, chills, which is all normal, but also heavy night sweats soaking through clothes and eye pain. He’s today starting to feel better he says, but this seems longer than I would expect for a vaccine reaction. I’m suggesting a drive through test. 

My mother-in-law was miserable for almost three weeks after her first dose.  But I’m not sure how much of it was direct vaccine reaction and how much of it was that she got into a spiral of not eating well and not sleeping well during the initial reaction.  

[Not_a_Number]

1 hour ago, kand said:

Does anyone know how long is too long to consider a reaction a normal immune response to vaccine? I’m beginning to be concerned about my dad. He had his shot Tuesday morning, snd I think it wasn’t until Thursday he started feeling bad. Achey, fever, chills, which is all normal, but also heavy night sweats soaking through clothes and eye pain. He’s today starting to feel better he says, but this seems longer than I would expect for a vaccine reaction. I’m suggesting a drive through test. 

Oooh. That sounds unpleasant 😕 . I know there've been other delayed reactions on this thread, though. 

[JennyD]

More on the possible effects of vaccines on long Covid.

[MissLemon]

9 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

Ugh. Sorry you're feeling junky!

On the bright side of things, that means your immune system is doing its job! 😉 Go antibodies, go! 

I am mostly back to normal now. My arm is still heckin' sore, and I'm tired because I didn't sleep well last night, but otherwise normal. 

Oof, what a bumpy ride it was!  But well worth it! In a few weeks, I can do exotic things like: Go to the eye doctor! Get a mammogram! Get labwork drawn! Woohoo! 😄

[Not_a_Number]

3 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

I am mostly back to normal now. My arm is still heckin' sore, and I'm tired because I didn't sleep well last night, but otherwise normal. 

Oof, what a bumpy ride it was!  But well worth it! In a few weeks, I can do exotic things like: Go to the eye doctor! Get a mammogram! Get labwork drawn! Woohoo! 😄

YAY!!! I hope your arm feels better soon. 

[ScoutTN]

On 2/27/2021 at 6:50 PM, happi duck said:

So glad to know vaccinations are zipping along!

Happy for y'all but I'm feeling so jealous too.  In my state I'm eligible but not in my county or the county of my doctor or job.  (under 65 with certain medical conditions)

I'm also eager for dh and dc to be vaccinated.

I was hoping to get vaccinated before J&J was okayed because I really want the two shot vaccine.

Do you have to get it in your county? In TN, we do not. 

[Starr]

6 hours ago, kand said:

Does anyone know how long is too long to consider a reaction a normal immune response to vaccine? I’m beginning to be concerned about my dad. He had his shot Tuesday morning, snd I think it wasn’t until Thursday he started feeling bad. Achey, fever, chills, which is all normal, but also heavy night sweats soaking through clothes and eye pain. He’s today starting to feel better he says, but this seems longer than I would expect for a vaccine reaction. I’m suggesting a drive through test. 

We were told 72 hours and to see a doctor if symptoms continued.

[happi duck]

1 hour ago, ScoutTN said:

Do you have to get it in your county? In TN, we do not. 

I'll check that out.  Thanks!

[maize]

Update on dh who got the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Friday; we waited a few days to see if any side effects would develop but he never even got a sore arm.

[Joker2]

FIL, 82, had his second dose last week and had zero side effects. Not even a sore arm. MIL gets her second dose soon and we hope she has an easy time as well.

 

[Kassia]

My MIL got her second dose last week (she's 83).  No problems with either dose.  

 

[Not_a_Number]

My FIL got vaccinated yesterday and DH got an appointment for Saturday! I'll keep you updated on that 🙂  .

[maize]

I really wonder how many of the people who react strongly to the first dose especially have had a prior covid exposure.

Out of those in my family who have had the vaccine, only my brother had a strong reaction (felt pretty sick for a couple of days).

He got the vaccine less than a month after being sick with something that may well have been covid (he never got tested).

[Plum]

17 hours ago, JennyD said:

More on the possible effects of vaccines on long Covid.

 

However, there have been reports of central nervous system invasion in SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive deceased individuals (

Meinhardt et al., 2020).

yes. 
 

 

@maizei posted this a few days ago in another thread. of course, nothing seems universal with this so YMMV. 
 

Both vaccines were generally well tolerated. But, because their immune systems were already in high gear, people who were previously infected tended to have more symptoms following their first shot, such as pain and swelling at the injection site. They also were more likely to report other less common symptoms, including fatigue, fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and joint pain.

https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2021/02/23/is-one-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine-enough-after-covid-19-infection/

[Not_a_Number]

2 hours ago, maize said:

I really wonder how many of the people who react strongly to the first dose especially have had a prior covid exposure.

Out of those in my family who have had the vaccine, only my brother had a strong reaction (felt pretty sick for a couple of days).

He got the vaccine less than a month after being sick with something that may well have been covid (he never got tested).

That really does seems to be the common denominator. It's very interesting. Someone should keep track. 

[JanOH]

My mil (82) received her second Pfizer shot about a week ago.  She was flat out sick for about three days and felt "wobbly" for a few days after that.  She really reacts to a LOT of medication in an extreme way so I expected she would have a hard time of it.  She's back to normal now.    Editing to add that she suspected she had a Covid way back in March 2020.  No testing available at that time to we've never known for sure.  I wouldn't think it would have affected her reaction to the vaccine since it was so long ago.

My parents received their second Moderna at about the same time last week.  My mom (79) who is not in good health with diabetes and kidney failure, said she went to bed early that night because she didn't feel well but then felt fine when she woke up.  My tough father (87) said he "may have felt a little off" but no big deal (nothing is ever a big deal for him - LOL!)  Editing to add:  Neither one had any known Covid symptoms and were being very careful because of my mom's fragile health.

Our governor announced today that the age group for the vaccine is being lowered to 60 this week.  My dh and I will be in the next group after that!  I thought we would have to wait a bit longer so the news was a welcome surprise.  

Edited March 1 by JanOH
clarity

[Kassia]

3 minutes ago, JanOH said:

 

Our governor announced today that the age group for the vaccine is being lowered to 60 this week.  My dh and I will be in the next group after that!  I thought we would have to wait a bit longer so the news was a welcome surprise.  

Very pleasant surprise (I'm in OH too)!  DH will be in the next group and then I'm after that.  I suspect DH won't go until I do (he's not as keen on getting vaccinated as I am), but I will encourage him to go first.  

 

[MissLemon]

1 hour ago, Not_a_Number said:

That really does seems to be the common denominator. It's very interesting. Someone should keep track. 

Maybe the CDC is keeping track. I am participating in the VSAFE health checker through the CDC. Every day I log what my symptoms are.  VSAFE says someone from the CDC may contact me about my symptoms, but no one has called yet. I would imagine they are more likely to call the people with symptoms outside the norm and get more information. 

[Danae]

32 minutes ago, Kassia said:

Very pleasant surprise (I'm in OH too)!  DH will be in the next group and then I'm after that.  I suspect DH won't go until I do (he's not as keen on getting vaccinated as I am), but I will encourage him to go first.  

 

Suggest to him that in case you both have strong reactions it would be better not to have them at the same time so that you can take care of each other.  That made my dad feel better about getting it before my mom.

 

Update:  my arm now only hurts if I poke it. So stop poking it. But then how will I know if it still hurts when I poke it?

[AStableBeginning]

I am 6.5 hours post first Pfizer shot. My arm is noticeably sore but nothing too bad.  I am the first in my immediate family to get the vaccine, hoping my DH will be next now that the J&J is approved.

[Corraleno]

42 minutes ago, JanOH said:

Our governor announced today that the age group for the vaccine is being lowered to 60 this week.  My dh and I will be in the next group after that!  I thought we would have to wait a bit longer so the news was a welcome surprise.  

I'm so jealous! Oregon has a very complicated system, with all different types of criteria in each tier, most of which have nothing to do with age. Enrollment is just now opening to over-65s, and then ages 45-65 with no underlying conditions aren't on the schedule until June! In between there are a whole lot of different subgroups, with essential workers in different occupations in different tiers, young people in multigenerational households come before older people who live alone, etc. So a 20 yr old who works the night shift one day a week at a grocery store can get it weeks before a 64 yr old cancer survivor with high blood pressure (they don't count either of those as underlying conditions).  I know of perfectly healthy people in their early 20s who work from home for healthcare companies who were vaccinated last month. I think they are totally overthinking it and it's greatly slowing things down here. Super frustrating! 

[Kassia]

54 minutes ago, Danae said:

Suggest to him that in case you both have strong reactions it would be better not to have them at the same time so that you can take care of each other.  That made my dad feel better about getting it before my mom.

 

He tends to be very sensitive to vaccinations so I already told him it would probably be best for us to stagger them in case I have side effects too (we expect him to).  We'll see...  😛  

 

[Dmmetler]

5 hours ago, Plum said:

 

However, there have been reports of central nervous system invasion in SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive deceased individuals (

Meinhardt et al., 2020).

yes. 
 

 

@maizei posted this a few days ago in another thread. of course, nothing seems universal with this so YMMV. 
 

Both vaccines were generally well tolerated. But, because their immune systems were already in high gear, people who were previously infected tended to have more symptoms following their first shot, such as pain and swelling at the injection site. They also were more likely to report other less common symptoms, including fatigue, fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and joint pain.

https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2021/02/23/is-one-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine-enough-after-covid-19-infection/

I'm getting my antibodies checked since my first vaccine had a pretty big reaction. If I did have COVID, it was very mild, but since I am teaching in person, being exposed seems extremely likely. 

[Dmmetler]

2 hours ago, MissLemon said:

Maybe the CDC is keeping track. I am participating in the VSAFE health checker through the CDC. Every day I log what my symptoms are.  VSAFE says someone from the CDC may contact me about my symptoms, but no one has called yet. I would imagine they are more likely to call the people with symptoms outside the norm and get more information. 

I'm doing VSAFE as well. I'm guessing symptoms that don't fit their checklist may be more likely to get followed up.

[Murphy101]

Got mine today. Moderna. The shot site aches. I wasn’t feeling very good when I woke up this am. I think the kids gave me their throat bug. 2 of them were really tired, headache, sore throat for a couple days then just fine. Tested negative for covid. This morning it took a lot of motivation to crawl out of the bed at 9 am (usually I’m up around 5:30/6) and my throat feels a bit raw and I have a mild headache. But no fever and otherwise fine so I kept my appt for my vax. Got shot and had mild discomfort waiting the entire 15 minutes.  Most likely just my asthma tho bc once I got out in fresh air and could take my mask off it subsided.  Ate some great lunch with my college girl and now I plan to go home and do nothing much beyond go over school work and house management and knitting or crocheting for a few days.

[Not_a_Number]

On 3/1/2021 at 3:10 PM, Not_a_Number said:

My FIL got vaccinated yesterday and DH got an appointment for Saturday! I'll keep you updated on that 🙂  .

My FIL felt fine but not great on Monday, then felt really junky on Tuesday and felt better the next day. Part of it, though, was that he wasn't supposed to take ibuprofen, and he usually does take ibuprofen to keep inflammation down. 

He has GI symptoms, if anyone is interested in the range of possible vaccine reactions. He had a fairly strong reaction but had never had COVID, as far as I know -- they were very careful. 

Edited March 5 by Not_a_Number

[Pawz4me]

DS22 had his first Pfizer vaccine this morning. So far he says he's felt nothing unusual except for a very slightly sore arm.

[Elfknitter.#]

My battling stage 3 breast cancer for a year now mom got her first Moderna shot today! 🥳

[Toocrazy!!]

DH and I both got first shots of moderna  today. We’re only about 6 hours out, but nothing for me, DH says slight arm pain if he sits for too long. 
we were not expecting to get shots this soon! Very grateful. Our local hospital got double the expected doses this morning so they were just filling in people. 

[Pam in CT]

Connecticut moved this week to all age-only eligibility system from this point out.

My husband and I became eligible as of Monday. We spent hours on Sunday gearing up for the eight (yes, eight) portals through which appointments could be made, creating login credentials for both of us for all 8 and writing up a plan of attack. At the stroke of midnight we both started logging in /dialing AS FAST AS WE  COULD. It was ridiculous. But we did both manage to get appointments, me on Monday and him on Tuesday, in both cases over an hour away in different directions, but we were willing to go anywhere in the state.

We both ended up getting Moderna. I barely had any effect at all; his arm is still a little sore and he came home and napped.

 

My octogenarian mother has had both doses of Pfizer with no effect other than sore arm. My octogenarian aunt & uncle both got Moderna. She was fine, he was knocked out for 2 days on the second dose.

Soooooooooooo ready to move back towards Nearly Normal. It'll be by degrees, since my kids won't be eligible until May.

[frogger]

On 3/1/2021 at 3:53 PM, Corraleno said:

I'm so jealous! Oregon has a very complicated system, with all different types of criteria in each tier, most of which have nothing to do with age. Enrollment is just now opening to over-65s, and then ages 45-65 with no underlying conditions aren't on the schedule until June! In between there are a whole lot of different subgroups, with essential workers in different occupations in different tiers, young people in multigenerational households come before older people who live alone, etc. So a 20 yr old who works the night shift one day a week at a grocery store can get it weeks before a 64 yr old cancer survivor with high blood pressure (they don't count either of those as underlying conditions).  I know of perfectly healthy people in their early 20s who work from home for healthcare companies who were vaccinated last month. I think they are totally overthinking it and it's greatly slowing things down here. Super frustrating! 

Agree on the overthinking. Just get shots into people already instead of doing backflips to get the "right" people.

 

IHS is doing way better in my state than the State itself. Native foundations are kicking butt and that is what makes our vaccination numbers look so high. I'm annoyed at the percentage of doses administered by the State. When they announced they were opening up a new tier they said something to the effect of, "We did everything in our power to get as many over 65 to come except personally knock on people's doors"  They also offered vaccines to people who would help older people get vaccinated, which sounded like a good idea but honestly, in addition to that they should just keep opening things up and moving along. Those choosing not to get vaccinated or struggling to get a ride or whatever they need will still be better protected if the state would get the other 65% of the doses they have into people's arms faster. 

[Laura Corin]

3 hours ago, frogger said:

Agree on the overthinking. Just get shots into people already instead of doing backflips to get the "right" people.

Yes.  The UK - despite a lot of pressure from particular groups - has vaccinated frontline healthcare and care home staff, and people in fragile health (and their registered carers), but otherwise it's just going by age.  As almost everyone in the UK is registered with an NHS GP, that makes the administration easy: just send out letters/texts by age and be done with it.  They expect to have given everyone down to age 50 a first shot by mid April, with second shots following on, then the cohorts will go down by age.

[Carrie12345]

My mom and stepdad got their first Pfizer shots Wednesday. I checked in yesterday afternoon and they only had sore arms, which was great news.

Unlike here, where Dh and dd had their second appointments scheduled at their first appointment, my parents were told they’d get an email when appointments become available.  That worries me. But at least step one is done.

[Gobblygook]

I had my second shot of Pfizer on Tuesday. Felt OK until Wednesday morning when I started getting achy and developed chills which lasted all day. No fever, but I was quite fatigued. I’d been skiing the day before and was already sore from that, but the shot seemed to magnify the soreness. I woke up Thursday with a slight headache and have been fine since. 

My DH had his first Moderna shot on Wednesday and had no reaction. 

Edited March 5 by Gobblygook

[Laura Corin]

My friend, with no previous Covid infection, had her Pfizer jab.  Her arm was sore enough that night to get in the way of sleeping through.  She felt a bit under the weather for a couple of days, but then was fine.

She was invited to the appointment by a Scottish government letter in the distinctive blue envelope.

Edited March 5 by Laura Corin

[Kanin]

My mom had her first Pfizer on Wednesday, and she says she only has a slightly sore arm. BUT she had a major emotional pandemic-related meltdown on the phone last night so I think she might be feeling a bit off although she won't admit it. She has a lot of medical anxiety so she wouldn't even discuss potential side effects of the vaccine. Apparently we now can't use the word "covid" in conversations because she's so done with it all. Wonder how long that resolution will last. 

[ktgrok]

On 2/27/2021 at 12:50 PM, Soror said:

Son says he is fine except for a very sore throat. (Pfizer on Wed at 6- 1st shot- had Covid in fall)

I don't think sore throat is a side effect of the vaccine. Sounds like he's actually sick?

 

[vonfirmath]

My parents (both age 75) have been entirely unwilling to play the portal game. "We'll get the vaccine when we get it"  They asked their doctor what to do at the last appointment, and got told they'd be contacted when Baylor Scott & White had doses. I was skeptical after hearing the hoops people are going through. But they got an email today to check their accounts for a link to sign up. And are getting their shots Saturday at a drive through clinic through their provider.

Edited March 5 by vonfirmath

[ktgrok]

My sister got vaccinated this week! Florida is only officially vaccinating teachers if they are over 50, but the private pharmacies - Publix and Walmart, etc - are doing all teachers PreK-12 and daycare workers. Got excited when I heard all teachers, hoping my DH was eligible, but it is only up to highschool and he teaches college level. Which is fine, he's teaching remotely anyway. 

So happy for my sister - she just heard a rumor about it and found a place doing it. Last night it was all over the news about them doing all teachers. 

[Pam in CT]

re appointments for second dose:

3 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

My mom and stepdad got their first Pfizer shots Wednesday. I checked in yesterday afternoon and they only had sore arms, which was great news.

Unlike here, where Dh and dd had their second appointments scheduled at their first appointment, my parents were told they’d get an email when appointments become available.  That worries me. But at least step one is done.

We got our appointments through CVS, which only opened up this week for pharmacy-based vaccines (though they'd been taking them into nursing homes and long term care facilities in CT before that, and have been doing pharmacy-based vaccines in other states). When we scored Appointment 1, we were automatically referred to a window of dates for Appointment 2 (we actually could tell, then, that we'd be getting Moderna based on the interval).  But folks I know who've gone through the national VAMS portal or through the Stamford Health portal (the hospital group closets to me) have had to wait to be contacted to get Appointment 2.

All in all we were surprised and WAY impressed with CVS' efficiency. Portal, intake at the pharmacy, line management, throughput, all of it.

 

re teachers' access:

14 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

My sister got vaccinated this week! Florida is only officially vaccinating teachers if they are over 50, but the private pharmacies - Publix and Walmart, etc - are doing all teachers PreK-12 and daycare workers. Got excited when I heard all teachers, hoping my DH was eligible, but it is only up to highschool and he teaches college level. Which is fine, he's teaching remotely anyway. 

So happy for my sister - she just heard a rumor about it and found a place doing it. Last night it was all over the news about them doing all teachers. 

This is probably already upthread, but early this week Biden announced that within the federal pharmacy partnership (which I know includes CVS, Walgreen and Walmart... there may be others?) ALL participating pharmacies will make it available to public and private K-12 teachers of any age (whether or not the respective states are prioritizing teachers in the other distribution channels that the states are managing) starting next week. It didn't affect CT since teachers were already eligible, but it will affect MA and NY.

[Joker2]

On 2/23/2021 at 7:35 PM, Joker2 said:

I have a family member who had the first vaccine 10 days ago (Moderna) and lost their taste and smell just a few days ago. Covid test was negative and they feel fine otherwise. They were told they can return to work, as a teacher, and to report it as possible side effect.

Quoting myself to say it is very likely my sister did in fact have Covid. Apparently, she only had a rapid test and no one required the PCR test since the only symptom was loss of taste/smell. 😳 She still has no taste or smell but has worked this whole time. And she’s still going in for her second shot as scheduled.  I honestly have no words. 

[frogger]

I had my first shot of Pfizer a few days ago. Very  slight soreness in my arm but that was it.  

[easypeasy]

On 3/5/2021 at 12:49 AM, frogger said:

Agree on the overthinking. Just get shots into people already instead of doing backflips to get the "right" people.

...

Those choosing not to get vaccinated or struggling to get a ride or whatever they need will still be better protected if the state would get the other 65% of the doses they have into people's arms faster. 

agree! Gets shots into as many willing arms as possible: however/whoever! 

[easypeasy]

Our nuclear family now has 3/5 of us with shot#1. One daughter should be able to get in next week and the other I am still trying to learn the ropes of the state she's in for college (and if they'll even "let" her get her shot there since she's not technically a resident)

I've been able to get appointments for my parents, several neighbors and parents of friends. Some of the portals are tricky and many elderly folks have trouble navigating it. Luckily, there are more places opening with appointments that the openings are there for longer than milliseconds, so I hope those who've had troubles in the past are able to secure appointments now. 
 

It's still bizarre how different each state's rollout is. I was thrilled when Pres. Biden added teachers to the eligible list for the private pharmacies. Soooo many old friends are now teacher friends and are spread all across the country. They have been giddily making their appointments this week. 😊

[iamonlyone]

On 2/23/2021 at 4:37 PM, iamonlyone said:

Dd26 had her first Pfizer shot (teacher in CA). She is also a professional ballerina, so she rehearsed for five hours after the shot on Friday with no problem and had just a little soreness at the injection site. She woke up on Saturday thinking she was fine...until she stood up. She ran a low grade fever all that day. She was very tired on Sunday and Monday and then back to normal on Tuesday.

Dd26 had her second shot Friday and had no reactions, except a tiny bit of soreness at the shot site. We are finding this very interesting, as we wondered if she had Covid February 2020. She had been in San Francisco when things were not going well there, and she had severe fatigue for weeks, bad cough, and chest issues. The doctor eliminated influenza, bronchitis, pneumonia, and even tested for strep. He prescribed an antibiotic, but dd didn't see that it made a difference. He did not test for Covid; tests were still hard to come by, there was very little Covid in her city, and she never ran a fever—which at the time, caused dd not to meet the criteria for Covid testing.

If she was Covid positive way back then, wouldn't it be great if her body recognized and launched a defensive to the Covid vaccine one year later!