Side effects of the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine could push further than the first, local health leaders confirmed Friday.
They said it only happens to about 20% of patients and is not a reason to avoid the vaccine, but it is important to know what to expect when the vaccine is fired.
“We have to be honest and direct,” said Dr. O’Dell Owens, a longtime doctor who now heads Cincinnati’s health advocacy group, Interact for Health. “The second shot is a little harder than the first for some people.”
Reported side effects of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, both given in two separate doses weeks, include pain, chills, fever, and fatigue. A patient may experience any of these side effects from the first shot, but they appear to be stronger after the second.
Because? Here is the short version.
The COVID-19 vaccine is an mRNA vaccine that teaches receptor cells to make a harmless piece of the “ear protein” that is on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19. The vaccine cannot cause the receptor to develop COVID-19, but the presence of the foreign protein still elicits an immune system response.
The body produces antibodies that can fight the virus and the patient is protected from the disease without ever having to catch the new coronavirus.
The demanding internal process of protecting the immune system and producing these antibodies is what causes most of the side effects of the vaccine, not the virus.
What is mRNA?
Good question: we haven’t been in high school biology for a few years now. MRNA is a “messenger RNA,” a type of molecule that contains genetic instructions for constructing a particular type of protein. These instructions are “read” by other cells, which create the protein in question. The RNA part means “ribonucleic acid,” a basic element of life. All living things need mRNA to survive.
READ MORE about mRNA vaccines through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Dr. Carl Fichtenbaum of UC Health compared the immune system to a boxer. Good fighters protect themselves more fiercely after receiving a punch, as do bodies that receive more than one dose of vaccine, even when a two-dose system is needed.
“The response is often a little more powerful, more vigorous, and faster,” he said. “That’s why when people get the second vaccine, they often feel a little worse than when they got the first vaccine.”
Dr. Phillip Hartman, a Santa Isabel doctor who received his second dose Wednesday, said he had not experienced any noticeable side effects.
The rate of patients who do this is around 20% and in some cases they may not feel well enough to work for a day or two. Hartman said this was expected.
“It’s really a minimal inconvenience wherever you go, especially if you consider that I treat patients who had COVID six months ago and are still not breathing well,” he said.
Owens said he hopes telling people what to expect will keep them calm and knowledgeable about the process, making them less vulnerable to scare tactics or conspiracy theories.
“I’m so scared that people will say,‘ Oh, look what happened to me, ’and you’re not going to get those people back in time for their second shot, and that’s important,” he said.