Pfizer vaccine experiences for 16-18 yr olds

[Dmmetler]

It was mentioned in the thread about approval for younger kids that this would be helpful. 

 

My 16 yr old is fully vaccinated as of today. The first shot was maybe 24 hours of brain fog and feeling slightly "off", with minor pain at the vax site. The second shot was one night of chills and fever, starting about 8 hours afterwards, sleeping until noon the next day (which, admittedly, is not exactly uncommon now that school is done for the year) and then was 100% fine.  I think my 16 yr old was the most eager person in the house to get the vaccine because of the major lack of just being able to hang out with peers, but also because of fear of being asymptomatic and infecting others. Having had a dear adult friend die in October due to COVID has led to a lot of anxiety, and getting the first shot caused an immediate reduction in anxiety related symptoms and behaviors. 

[Soror]

My son is 16 (17 in July). He got his first dose Feb 24 and the 2nd- March 17. He had a confirmed diagnosis for Covid Sep 30th.

He felt bad with both doses. Sore arm, aches, fatigue. He might have had a short fever with the first- I can't recall offhand. He had side effects last a couple of days with both. He ended up with a cold a few days after the first dose so it is hard to say how much of his fatigue was from that. I expected he would have a rough go of it since he had COVID already and it has been reported that could make the reaction stronger with the first dose. I thought about just having him do 1 dose but there wasn't official guidance about that so we went ahead and did both.

[Storygirl]

DD19 had a sore arm after both shots and felt tired the day after the second shot, but then was fine. She had Covid in January this year, so we wondered if she might have a greater reaction, but she did not.

DS17 just had a sore arm after both shots. He didn't complain about it, except when I touched it.

DS16 had a sore arm after both shots. After the second one, he felt sick the next day. He had no energy and had a stomach ache and cuddled up with a blanket all day. He said that he was hot and cold all night the first night.

Their shots were all on Saturday, and they were all fine to go to school on Monday.

[strawberries]

DS16 got Pfizer as soon as he was eligible. He had zero side effects from the first dose. The day after the second dose he had some body aches starting in the afternoon and ran a low (100.4) fever.  Yesterday was officially two weeks after the second shot and it's a big relief since he has in-person AP exams this week and next after doing virtual school all year.

[catz]

My daughter is 16 and got her 2nd Pfizer last Thursday.   

First dose - slightly sore arm, no problems!  Felt totally fine. 

Second dose  - did fine for about 10 hours (actually had an in person masked theater callback that evening - got the part!).  Got the chills, went to bed, felt off the next morning.  Had some leg aches and general fatigue.  Took a couple advil at lunch time.  Good enough to zoom into a dance class for observation at 4:30.  Happily texting friends and watching youtube all afternoon and evening. 😂  A little tired that evening.  Good to go and totally fine all weekend, did all regular activities.  🥳

[Janeway]

My 16 and 18 yr olds had their shots and no side effects.

[RootAnn]

19 yr old (just out of the asked for window) had a sore arm following shot #1, slight headache, sore arm, and mild temp (+ 1.5 degrees) for a bit following shot #2.

My 17 yr old has only had one shot so far, mild sore arm only.

[kokotg]

17 year old had both doses of pfizer--no side effects other than a mildly sore arm. 

[*Jessica*]

My 17yo is fully vaccinated and only had a sore arm and maybe mild fatigue after both shots.

[Sneezyone]

DD16 gets her second dose tomorrow. She only had a sore arm with dose #1 which lasted for a day or so.

Edited May 3, 2021 by Sneezyone

[Toocrazy!!]

18 year old, 2 weeks out from second shot today. First shot, no effects. Second shot- all the goodies. Started with fatigue, back and joint aches impeding sleep, low fever, chills, ending in headache. But ate well all day, drank tons of water, and did his fairly strenuous job the second day after the shot. No issues since then. 

I did have some hesitation with him getting the shot. They’re just so young. He has a great immune system, never really sick. But with the variants hitting young people and going to communal apartment living next year, we decided to move forward. 

[Lecka]

My 16-year-old has had one dose, and he had no side effects from it.  He should get his second dose next Friday but I haven’t scheduled it yet.  He just had his birthday.

It went well!  He does not like shots but this time he said “are you doing it now?” and they had already given him the shot!  They said something like “are you ready” and he didn’t know it would be so fast.  

Edited May 3, 2021 by Lecka

[Spryte]

DS16 - first shot gave him a very slightly sore arm, maybe a little tired but nothing else.  Second shot gave a sore arm, but not too bad, tired and felt a little bit off.  Enough to take Advil the day after, but mostly fine.

Of our teen friends ... One had significant flu-ish feelings after the first shot for about a day, but everyone else was fine.

[Roadrunner]

My 16 year old had no reaction to a first dose. He was tired after the second dose and slept a lot the day of the shot. Completely back to normal the next day. 

[Farrar]

Two 16 yos here. 

Balletboy’s sense of taste got messed up! Turns out a few people get a metallic taste after the Pfizer. His was more like things tasting wrong or not much. It faded after a few days and was only with the first shot. Sore arm, brain fog, felt very bleh. Second shot, just a mildly sore arm.

Mushroom was fine after his first dose. Arm a little sore. He gets the second this week.

Edited May 3, 2021 by Farrar

[maize]

My 17 year old didn't have any symptoms other than a sore arm with either dose.

Vaccination has really reduced my anxiety as well. Can't wait for my other kids to be eligible!

[skimomma]

My 17yo has had both doses.  Aside from a sore arm, there were no significantly side effects....other than HUGE relief. 

[Selkie]

My 18 y.o. dd got her first Moderna shot in early April and had a little bit of fatigue and a sore arm for about 24 hours.

She’s getting her second shot today, so I’ll report back.🙂

[sbgrace]

Two 17 year olds--"A" is 3 weeks past his 2nd dose, and "B" is one week past his 2nd dose.

----

A--first dose-COVID arm that moved to new onset eczema spreading down that arm (took about 2 weeks or so to resolve).  Very mild tender arm. 

A-2nd dose: about 24 hours of low grade fever, mild headache, mild fatigue. Painful, swollen lymph node in injection arm that resolved quickly (injection point itself was only mildly affected). He mostly did his normal routine the next day without issues. 

---- 

B--first dose--injection site tenderness, hives on arm and upper torso appeared that evening or the next day (resolved quickly), COVID arm about a week after the vaccine.

B-2nd dose--higher fever (102), nausea, more significant headache and fatigue. All resolved largely within 24 hours, but he mostly laid around/slept. Like his brother, he also had a lymph node swelling that quickly resolved. 

------ 

It was not a big deal, but it's curious to me that both my teens had COVID arm and then lymph node stuff while neither their dad nor I had anything like that w/Pfizer. But, other than that, our post shot experiences were pretty similar to theirs. 

 

Edited May 3, 2021 by sbgrace

[Terabith]

Both of my kids have had their first shots, and both of them just had a sore arm.  

Youngest turned 16 last week, so she hasn't had second shot yet.  Oldest got their second shot last week.  They felt crappy in an unspecified way for a day or two but then perked up.  I should also say that oldest child is both extremely sensitive and prone to hypochondria and was expecting to feel terrible based on friends' experiences, even though nobody else in the family had a strong reaction.  They didn't run a fever, and they're also terrible at describing symptoms, so we get "I feel crappy," but no details.  

[edelweiss]

My just-turned-18 year old (was 17 for the first shot, 18 for the second) had NO symptoms for either shot, except for a mildly sore arm.

She is so thrilled to be fully vaccinated!

[Spy Car]

My 16 year old son had his first shot of Pfizer and will have the second on Friday.

Tender arm after #1. No other side effects.

Bill

[Forget-Me-Not]

18 yo DS had his first shot early April, had maybe a sore arm. 
 

Second shot mid-April left him feeling crummy for 12-24 hours, but he bounced back quickly. 

[kirstenhill]

My 16 year old had #1 - she had a sore arm and was very, very tired for a day or two.  She has #2 this week. 

[Elfknitter.#]

16 and 17 year old here. Both have only had their first shot. Only thing reported to me was a sore arm the day after and fine since. We'll be 2 weeks post shot #1 on Saturday.

[momto3innc]

My 16 ds has had both Pfizer shots. He had a mildly sore arm with both. Mild enough that he only noticed when I specifically asked. No other symptoms. 

[Pam in CT]

The boarding school that my 18 yo attends organized the first vaccination event (Pfizer) for all 16-18 yo on campus who want it (which turned out to be literally everyone she knows -- she is not aware of a single eligible student who declined it) a week ago. She had no effects; a couple of her friends had sore arms; nothing more.  They'll all get the second dose in two weeks.

The 16 yo and 18 yo on one extended family branch got J&J back before the pause - no effects.

I have a 17 yo niece with ID and some other medical conditions, who was among the early recipients of Pfizer, monitored for I believe two hours afterwards, back in late March.  She was a little ache-y after the second dose.

[Loowit]

My 18 yo got his first shot (Pfizer) last Tuesday.  He just had a mildly sore arm for a day or two.

[Dmmetler]

13 minutes ago, Pam in CT said:

The boarding school that my 18 yo attends organized the first vaccination event (Pfizer) for all 16-18 yo on campus who want it (which turned out to be literally everyone she knows -- she is not aware of a single eligible student who declined it) a week ago. She had no effects; a couple of her friends had sore arms; nothing more.  They'll all get the second dose in two weeks.

The 16 yo and 18 yo on one extended family branch got J&J back before the pause - no effects.

I have a 17 yo niece with ID and some other medical conditions, who was among the early recipients of Pfizer, monitored for I believe two hours afterwards, back in late March.  She was a little ache-y after the second dose.

Is J&J approved for 16+? I thought the only one approved below age 18 was Pfizer? If the J&J is approved for 16+, that might make it very easy for colleges to do vaccination events in fall, since there will be a decent number of kids who haven't quite turned 18 yet, but almost no new students under age 16. 

[Pam in CT]

1 hour ago, Dmmetler said:

Is J&J approved for 16+? I thought the only one approved below age 18 was Pfizer? If the J&J is approved for 16+, that might make it very easy for colleges to do vaccination events in fall, since there will be a decent number of kids who haven't quite turned 18 yet, but almost no new students under age 16. 

You know, I just looked it up, and looks like no. NYC has done massive walk-in sites. There's a chance nephew fudged his age.

[Eos]

DD16 has both shots. The first just gave her a sore arm, the second she had a full 36 hours of sore arm plus achey, chills, fatigue.  Totally fine on the third day. 

[kbutton]

My 16 y.o.: I had the Pfizer vaccine. I had no symptoms with the first shot, and a fever on the night that I had the second. I was a bit achy the next day, but after that I have had no other symptoms.

[Garga]

DS16 and DS18 both had the first dose of Pfizer. They both had mildly sore arms, barely enough to even comment on, the day afterwards.

They get their second shots on this coming Wed.

[sassenach]

My 16yo got Pfizer. She slept off each shot and that was pretty much it. After the second shot she slept for 18 hours and went to the beach the next day. She's also felt incredibly happy about the freedom of the vaccinated life after sacrificing a lot to protect her high risk brother.

[TheReader]

Our son turned 16 in Feb, and got the vaccine in March (due to volunteering in our county distribution center). He had a pretty sore arm after the first dose, no real impact from the 2nd dose (maybe the tiniest fever, but not much; we joked about how little it bothered him vs. how much my Moderna 2nd dose bothered me)

He's about 6 wks past the 2nd dose at this point, and nothing else has popped up.  He's the only one in the family who got Pfizer, and had the least side effects of all of us. 

I'm beyond excited that they'll be approving it for 12+ soon. I have so many friends' kids waiting on it. 

[melmichigan]

 DC18 (twins) have gotten both Pfizer shots, including my child with MCAS.  No issues, sore arms and tired after the second shot.

My DS16 had one dose of Pfizer, slightly sore arm with second dose next week.

Can't wait for my DS13 so all seven of us will be done...🤞

[MEmama]

DS (18) got his second shot of Pfizer yesterday afternoon. He had some fever/chills in the night, but said it wasn’t too bad. He’s a little tired this morning (although he’s been stressed and is generally tired when he gets downtime, so it’s hard to tell if it’s vaccine related or not) and has a swollen eyelid, which is not a side effect I’d heard of.
 

He’s not complaining and is psyched to be fully vaccinated! 🙂 

[Selkie]

On 5/3/2021 at 10:58 AM, Selkie said:

My 18 y.o. dd got her first Moderna shot in early April and had a little bit of fatigue and a sore arm for about 24 hours.

She’s getting her second shot today, so I’ll report back.🙂

Quoting myself to update:

Dd18 got her second Moderna shot on Monday. She had mild aches and chills that night, but was feeling fine by the next day.

[LucyStoner]

My 17 yo son got his first Pfizer shot and will be returning for the second.  I am so glad he will be vaccinated before summer job + summer camp.  

No symptoms reported other than a sore arm.  We will see for dose #2.  

[kirstenhill]

Reporting back on DD16's second shot.  Unfortunately she had kind of a scary side effect.   She went to work at Dairy Queen about 3 hrs after her shot since she was feeling fine.  Then after having been on her feet at work for a couple hours, she got very dizzy and "blacked out" (though didn't lose consciousness).  She sat down and said everything was black for a couple minutes, then vision came back and she still felt dizzy.   Her manager was great about it and had her call us for a ride home since it didn't seem safe at all to have her drive home.  She felt ok all night taking it easy at home, and went into school late this morning since she was a bit dizzy and had a headache.  She was feeling well enough by mid morning to go to school.  On the plus side, she said her arm wasn't sore this time!

We are super grateful she didn't black out while driving.  While we can't know for sure it was a vaccine side effect, it does seem likely since she was trying to stay hydrated before and after the shot to (hopefully) reduce side effects and she had a snack before work so wasn't hungry.   She's never experienced anything like that before. 

 

Edited May 7, 2021 by kirstenhill
typo

[RootAnn]

Dd#2 (17) got her second Pfizer shot on Friday afternoon. Luckily, this one didn't hurt like the first one did. (The first time, she also had some bleeding.)

She woke up Saturday with a low grade fever & a general feeling of malaise. She laid around all day not able to nap, but mostly just feeling bad. She said she was, "Not great. But at least I'm not dead."

Her fever was up in the afternoon (still can't find our thermometer so I was using the mom method to check her temp). Twenty-four hours post shot, I gave her a Tylenol. She was able to get up & eat dinner & she took another Tylenol at bedtime so she could sleep.

She says she's 96.5% today.

Edited May 9, 2021 by RootAnn

[Spy Car]

Son had his second dose of Pfizer on Friday afternoon.

He mostly slept on Saturday. Felt a little warm.

Was up and feeling mostly better by dinner time.

Back to normal and out with his mother today (Sunday).

Bill

[JenneinCA]

My 16 year old got his second dose on Friday afternoon.  He had a headache on Saturday and that was about it.  

[Faith-manor]

1 hour ago, RootAnn said:

he said she was, "Not great. But at least I'm not dead."

 

This is my eldest boy! Sigh. I am so happy he is being vaccinated tomorrow - he waited until after finals week and this past week's work on editing of his thesis - but he has exactly this mindset, and he is "the reacter" as we have been referring to him since baby hood. I can only imagine. Guaranteed I will have a 24 year old, "At least I'm not dead" patient on my couch this week. The things we mothers endure...... 😁

[madteaparty]

No side effects for my 16 year old except for sore arm. Now I will say he freaked himself out and did have some drama at time of administration BOTH times, but this was a needle thing, not a vaccine thing.