COVID Vaccine

[Spydra]

I’m an intern at a large VA and got mine a few weeks ago (Pfizer). Zero side effects whatsoever - apart from feeling nauseated for about 20 mins after, which was likely anxiety + not having eaten that day because I got caught up in other stuff and suddenly it was 2pm... Most others I know got a very sore arm and/or fatigue after the first dose.

People seem to be doing okay with the second dose so far, I’ve heard reports of myalgia, headache, and some GI issues for ~24 hours but nothing major.

Did the VA require you to get the vaccine? As an intern applicant this year, I'm very interested in knowing if its become mandatory for any interns (and what type of setting) in case I have to go on to Phase 2.

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[DrBakedGoods]

Got my first dose of Moderna this week. Only had some mild arm soreness, so I guess I’m lucky!

Related to a question above, did anyone have to wait 15 mins before leaving? I get it’s to watch for severe reactions, but I’ve never had to do that for another vaccine before. It seems the immediate side effect profile is no worse than other vaccine. Is it just an optics thing given vaccination reluctance, or am I missing something?

We were told it's because someone had passed out after receiving the vaccine and so they were doing it just to be safe..I have no idea the truth to that, but *shrug. After both doses, the nurses told me I could leave earlier than the 15 minutes if I wanted, but the waiting room allowed you to sit down and instructed you to take pictures of your vaccine card for your own records in case we lost the physical card.

 

[PsyDuck90]

Got my first dose of Moderna this week. Only had some mild arm soreness, so I guess I’m lucky!

Related to a question above, did anyone have to wait 15 mins before leaving? I get it’s to watch for severe reactions, but I’ve never had to do that for another vaccine before. It seems the immediate side effect profile is no worse than other vaccine. Is it just an optics thing given vaccination reluctance, or am I missing something?

I read that there were a few people who experienced an anaphylactic or anaphylactoid reaction right after the injection, mostly those who had a serious shellfish allergy I think.

 

[AbnormalPsych]

According to a friend getting their PhD in immunology, it's because mRNA vaccines are very efficient at producing the proteins responsible for an antiviral response, and consequently immune response-related side effects.

Fascinating, thanks for the info!

 

[ExecutiveDysfunction]

I read that there were a few people who experienced an anaphylactic or anaphylactoid reaction right after the injection, mostly those who had a serious shellfish allergy I think.

That’s what i figured as well. Interesting, because to my (limited) knowledge this is not uncommon for many vaccines (egg allergy and flu vaccine, for example) but I’ve never heard about having to wait before.

My hunch is it’s concern for the anaphylaxis you mentioned, along with concern for being overly cautious given the emergency authorization. Who knows! Either way, it’s a minor curiosity I’ve had since I got vaccinated.

 

[PsyDuck90]

That’s what i figured as well. Interesting, because to my (limited) knowledge this is not uncommon for many vaccines (egg allergy and flu vaccine, for example) but I’ve never heard about having to wait before.

My hunch is it’s concern for the anaphylaxis you mentioned, along with concern for being overly cautious given the emergency authorization. Who knows! Either way, it’s a minor curiosity I’ve had since I got vaccinated.

Yeah, my guess is that they're trying to be as cautious as possible. There's already so many people uneasy about it, so I'm sure they're trying to do everything they think can help convince people to get it.

 

[parametric]

Did the VA require you to get the vaccine? As an intern applicant this year, I'm very interested in knowing if its become mandatory for any interns (and what type of setting) in case I have to go on to Phase 2.

Nope, not mandatory for interns or any of the staff at my VA, at least that I know of. It’s all been through voluntary sign up. Not sure if this will change to be more like the flu shot (required, unless medically contraindicated or religious exemption) in the future, though.

 

[WisNeuro]

Nope, not mandatory for interns or any of the staff at my VA, at least that I know of. It’s all been through voluntary sign up. Not sure if this will change to be more like the flu shot (required, unless medically contraindicated or religious exemption) in the future, though.

I'd bank on it, as the commentary from experts suggests this will be seasonal.

 

[MiniLop]

I got my first dose of Pfizer yesterday. My arm is slightly sore (comparable to what I usually experience after getting a flu shot) and that's it so far.

 

[PsychPhDone]

Got my first dose of Moderna this week. Only had some mild arm soreness, so I guess I’m lucky!

Related to a question above, did anyone have to wait 15 mins before leaving? I get it’s to watch for severe reactions, but I’ve never had to do that for another vaccine before. It seems the immediate side effect profile is no worse than other vaccine. Is it just an optics thing given vaccination reluctance, or am I missing something?

I've been asked to wait 15 minutes after every vaccine I've been given.

 

[PsychPhDone]

I read that there were a few people who experienced an anaphylactic or anaphylactoid reaction right after the injection, mostly those who had a serious shellfish allergy I think.

Do you have a source for this? I'd seen the first few reports that came out and they were in people with a history of allergies, but I don't recall seeing shellfish on the list. Last I read, about 30 anaphylactic reactions had been reported. Not bad given how many doses were given.

In case anyone is hesitant because of fears of reaction, my hospital had epi pens, benadryl, vitals monitoring equipment, and a crash cart nearby. They rehearsed scenarios with the code team. I was nervous but greatly relieved they were prepared.

 

[PsyDuck90]

Do you have a source for this? I'd seen the first few reports that came out and they were in people with a history of allergies, but I don't recall seeing shellfish on the list. Last I read, about 30 anaphylactic reactions had been reported. Not bad given how many doses were given.

In case anyone is hesitant because of fears of reaction, my hospital had epi pens, benadryl, vitals monitoring equipment, and a crash cart nearby. They rehearsed scenarios with the code team. I was nervous but greatly relieved they were prepared.

I just Googled it yesterday because I had remembered hearing it from a pharmacist friend of mine. Here's the two articles I found yesterday. This one from the NYT and this one from talking about the issues in the UK.

I don't think the numbers are anything extreme comparatively, but I think the political climate and existing apprehension surrounding these vaccines is relevant. I actually do have a shellfish allergy (although mild), and I wasn't particularly worried. The site I was at had medical equipment and staff just in case, and things like juice and cookies and all that in case anyone got light headed.

 

[PsychPhDone]

I just Googled it yesterday because I had remembered hearing it from a pharmacist friend of mine. Here's the two articles I found yesterday. This one from the NYT and this one from talking about the issues in the UK.

I don't think the numbers are anything extreme comparatively, but I think the political climate and existing apprehension surrounding these vaccines is relevant. I actually do have a shellfish allergy (although mild), and I wasn't particularly worried. The site I was at had medical equipment and staff just in case, and things like juice and cookies and all that in case anyone got light headed.

Thanks. It seems all sorts of different allergies predispose. I also have a shellfish allergy and wanted to make sure this discussion didn't turn anyone off to vaccination. I checked with my PCP and allergist first, and they told me to go for it. They only difference on site was that I was required to stay for 30 minutes...which I honestly didn't mind because it was my only in person social interaction in months.

We didn't have cookies though. Bummer. Been out of grad school 5+ years and still want free food.

 

[PsyDuck90]

We didn't have cookies though. Bummer. Been out of grad school 5+ years and still want free food.

They were out of site behind a curtained off area. I just knew they were there because I was the 1st one in that day and sitting in the area when a supervisor came to tell all the staff about all the procedures and resources in case anyone wasn't feeling well. I'm still in grad school, and my ears perked up, but I felt awkward asking for food when I was feeling fine lol. I got vaccinated at a county site, so it was run by volunteers.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Got my first dose of Moderna this week. Only had some mild arm soreness, so I guess I’m lucky!

Related to a question above, did anyone have to wait 15 mins before leaving? I get it’s to watch for severe reactions, but I’ve never had to do that for another vaccine before. It seems the immediate side effect profile is no worse than other vaccine. Is it just an optics thing given vaccination reluctance, or am I missing something?

They're doing this were I work. My guess--with it being new, and with folks possibly being a bit more concerned, may be a combination of optics and just maximizing precautions. I suspect it may also help head off additional employee health visits later if the employees can receive education and normalization of any side-effects right after getting the shot.

 

[child_psych123]

Received my first dose of Moderna last week. I experienced fatigue the first day and soreness at the site of injection for two days. By Day 3, I felt back to normal. Similar to others, I waited fifteen minutes for observation following the vaccine (I was also asked to do this following my flu shot earlier this year.)

Prior to receiving the vaccine, I did a lot of reading on potential adverse side effects in attempt to ease my anxiety. During my 15 minute observation period, I randomly internally panicked and started to feel like I was having an adverse reaction. However, I did a quick self-assessment realized that I was likely experiencing anxiety, did some deep breathing, and felt fine afterwards!

 

[CheetahGirl]

Got my first dose of Pfizer last week (super grateful for the opportunity, as a medical center employee). I feel/felt fine (some muscle soreness at the injection site for 24 hours, but that's all). We were told to wait for 15-minutes also - I'm guessing not for optics, but widespread concern over these particular vaccines because they are all authorized for emergency use only.

Related to a question above, did anyone have to wait 15 mins before leaving?

 

[kestrelcry]

I got my first dose of Pfizer last week. I found it virtually pain-free to get, whereas I find the flu vaccine to initially burn quite a bit. I also had no arm soreness whatsoever, which surprised me, because my arm is usually sore for days after the flu shot.
I did have an amusing moment of psychosomatic pain tho. I'm almost always given the flu shot in my right arm and this one was in my left. Right after I got the shot in my left arm and was sitting there surprised at how little it hurt, my right arm twinged like a mother****er. Poor thing clearly had some very strong expectations of how the experience was going to go. 😄
Full disclosure, I had headaches later in the day, but honestly, frequent headaches are just like an amusing hobby I have at this point, and it didn't even occur to me until much later that it could even possibly be related, and I assume it probably wasn't.
I am kinda nervous for the second shot tho.

 

[szymk1sm]

I received my second dose of Pfizer this past weekend. I had minimal side effects with the first dose (really just a sore arm, but no worse than the flu shot). I also had minimal side effects with the second dose (sore arm and MAYBE feeling a bit sore with chills - but hard to tell b/c I workout and keep my apt cold ).

 

[thebalmofhurtminds]

They gave us ice cream after ours so that was cool.

 

[Ollie123]

Allergies are the reason for the 15 minute wait.

Remember that this still isn't an approved vaccine, there is an emergency use authorization. These are different things and the various CYA that the entities involved pursue will certainly differ.

Emergency use is normally for things like "life-saving drug for person who is 3 days from dying and will probably die anyways so what the hell." There aren't exactly protocols for bringing it to scale like this. I am guessing this just emerged as a result.

I think my highest risk activity since March was sitting in a hospital classroom with 40 other people post-injection for that 15 minute wait.

 

[singasongofjoy]

FWIW I posted fairly early on in this thread and just to follow up - I did get confirmation from Pfizer that I was in the vaccine group. As it’s been rolling out at some of the places I work- residential/long term care- some folks are feeling crappy (fatigue most common, followed by headache, fever, diarrhea, or some combo of the above)- following the second shot (mostly but not entirely Pfizer) anecdotally seems to be about 1 in 10. Sore arm reported by some after the first shot and one person had an itchy rash develop starting at the injection site and spreading over the arm like 7 days later which seems super unusual when I casually inquired at my next study visit. For people having symptoms after the second shot, they start 12-24 hours later and last no more than 2 days maximum, often less, with fatigue being the worst/most severe or annoying. Prob more like 1 in 15 that feel symptoms have a substantially negative effect on ability to work effectively for some brief window of time. And no one has said they’d let that sway their opinion - they’d all do it over again. The most severe reactions, mine included, were fever up to 101.7, moderate - severe fatigue (like... the worst of the first trimester fatigue for those who have experienced pregnancy). But again all very short lived. Many people had no adverse reactions to either first or second dose. 10/10 recommend.

 

[AbnormalPsych]

They gave us ice cream after ours so that was cool.

What kind

 

[BuckeyeLove]

Me and a colleague got it same day. I was fine. She has a black bruise the size of a tennis ball and continued night sweats and chills. Still alive though and not being tracked by Bill Gates....yet.

 

[psychsyke33]

I got my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine last Tuesday. I felt completely fine until Wednesday afternoon, when I suddenly became febrile, light headed, and felt as if I was going to faint. I decided to go home at that point, which was definitely wise because it was an uphill battle from there. I got chills, muscle soreness, and nauseous and basically slept from 3pm until my alarm went off at 6am the next day (Thursday). On Thursday, I woke up energized and honestly feeling great. it was the weirdest thing - felt like I was a new person. mid day Thursday, I started to develop a headache localized to my left temple. It only hurt when I would stand up from sitting or standing but would hurt pretty bad. Friday morning, I woke up with worsened headache that seemed be more generalized all over my head. I tried taking Advil, Tylenol, excederin, and Sudafed. nothing helped and I woke up with an even WORSE headache Saturday, it seemed to be getting worse every day. I finally got a virtual visit Sunday morning with a dr who prescribed me sumatriptan. I took it as prescribed and it seemed to help a little bit, but the headache was still extremely painful and had me in bed all day long with the lights off and no energy. Sunday night it was the worse pain of my life - and I have an extremely high pain tolerance. I was not able to sleep at all the entire night and decided I would go to the ER if the pain remained when my alarm went off at 6am. I woke up and the pain remained, but felt a little bit better (and I REALLY did not want to go to the ER) so I just sucked it up and got out of bed, took another sumatriptan, and drank a coffee. within 2 hours, I felt SO MUCH BETTER. I still have no clue if this was all due to the vaccine or if it was something else completely, but I have felt much better yesterday and today and seem to be on the mend. this all being said, I would get the vaccine again in a heartbeat in order to protect myself and my loved ones and move in the direction of HOPE.

 

[PhD_Throwaway]

Got my first dose of Pfizer yesterday, complete with the mandated 15-minute wait and free cookies. They're rolling it out to all the clinical psych students here.

Very slight soreness in that arm, but nothing else. My flu shot hurt a fair bit more.

 

[Sanman]

I had my second dose. I had a mildly elevated heart rate in the first 10 minutes lasting about an hour and then starting to slow down back to normal over the next few hours. There were a number of people getting the second dose and I was the only one with a mild allergic reaction. Some fatigue and joint pain in the first 24 hours, but nothing some Tylenol could not manage.

 

[thebalmofhurtminds]

What kind

Andy's frozen custard. Went all out.

 

[singasongofjoy]

Got my first dose of Pfizer yesterday, complete with the mandated 15-minute wait and free cookies. They're rolling it out to all the clinical psych students here.

Very slight soreness in that arm, but nothing else. My flu shot hurt a fair bit more.

OMG. I feel like it will be light years before they open it up to students here and I desperately need them to so eventually some of them might be able to actually come into the office and be able to do additional things because right now I am DROWNING and just want to hand someone a stack of things to score and organize

 

[AbnormalPsych]

Moderna here. So far just a sore arm, slightly more so than with the flu shot.

 

[WisNeuro]

Scheduled for moderna next week.

 

[Sanman]

Update, I have had both doses of the Pfizer vaccine and I am still alive as of today.

 

[WisNeuro]

Update, I have had both doses of the Pfizer vaccine and I am still alive as of today.

Do you get any electronic interference from the Bill Gates chip?

 

[Sanman]

Do you get any electronic interference from the Bill Gates chip?

Nope, the implant is working great! I don't know what you are talking about.

 

[deleted106747]

Scheduled for moderna next week.

Pfizer next week for me.

 

[Ollie123]

2nd pfizer dose Thursday. Wayyyy worse than the first one. Up all night with flu-like symptoms, had to take a day off work. Spent it napping and uncontrollably stocking up on microsoft products (joking...at least about the latter).

Again, this is super-weird for me as I havent had anything beyond mild arm pain from any vaccine in my entire life. Perhaps it's good it generated a stronger immune response than other vaccines have though.

And I maintain.....still 100% worth it.

 

[AbnormalPsych]

Moderna shot 1 update: Feels like someone took a sledgehammer to my arm. Otherwise feel great.

 

[borne_before]

Wife had second dose of Pfizer. She had a little headache and fatigue. She also had a slight fever on one side of her head (not sure if she was kidding or not).

 

[Cantab109]

2nd pfizer dose Thursday. Wayyyy worse than the first one. Up all night with flu-like symptoms, had to take a day off work. Spent it napping and uncontrollably stocking up on microsoft products (joking...at least about the latter).

How long after the shot was the onset of symptoms?

 

[Ollie123]

Was fine until about 7-8 hours later. Gradual ramp up, probably peaked around hour 24. I was still mildly symptomatic this AM (hour 48), but only to the extent that I was WAY more tired after a morning run than I should be.

At least from my perspective, nothing worrying. A day of minor cold symptoms and surprisingly bad fatigue, then back to normal. I do agree that planning to take the next day off is wise just in case you react similarly but that is it.

 

[mypointlesspov]

I'm a postdoc at a non-profit that's affiliated with a large hospital and we got an email saying we could sign up for the tiered vaccine lottery. There's no specific timeline, but my tier will receive the vaccine after the demand for vaccines in the higher tiers (e.g. high exposure risk or required to work onsite) has been satisfied.

Update: my supervisors and fellow postdocs all got emails to sign up for the vaccine early last week. We had a range of dates to choose from and I got my first dose last Saturday (01/09) I got the Moderna vaccine and was the most painless shot ever (I'm a baby when it comes to injections) and the only side effect was some discomfort in my arm that waxed and waned throughout the day.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Same here RE: the shot itself; I felt it less than I do the flu vaccine, but maybe that's just a testament to the nurse who administered it. I had a mild reaction the day after the first dose (Moderna) with mostly some fatigue, body aches, and a bit of an upset stomach + the standard sore arm. Sore arm stuck around for another day after that while everything else resolved. I'm expecting I may be out of work the day after the second dose based on what folks are saying, but I'm ok with that. All in all, 100% worth it.

 

[just_a_cigar]

I thought I'd chime in with my experience re: the 15 minute wait and side effects. I received the vaccine from my VA hospital and actually saw someone have an adverse reaction. I'm pretty sure it was some sort of anaphylactic shock, because they had to use the crash cart and brought a whole team in to take the person out of the room on a gurney and they were still unconscious. Hoping that person is okay. The site was shut down for almost an hour which gave my anxiety plenty of time to ramp up! But, I still got it. So, the 15 min wait time makes a lot of sense to monitor folks afterwards.

Pfizer dose one Thursday, arm was terribly sore, I couldn't move it much until yesterday. Was also super fatigued and had a headache for two days afterwards, so I'm not looking forward to the second dose after reading everyone's experiences. But I'm grateful I have the chance to get it at all!

 

[WisNeuro]

I thought I'd chime in with my experience re: the 15 minute wait and side effects. I received the vaccine from my VA hospital and actually saw someone have an adverse reaction. I'm pretty sure it was some sort of anaphylactic shock, because they had to use the crash cart and brought a whole team in to take the person out of the room on a gurney and they were still unconscious. Hoping that person is okay. The site was shut down for almost an hour which gave my anxiety plenty of time to ramp up! But, I still got it. So, the 15 min wait time makes a lot of sense to monitor folks afterwards.

Pfizer dose one Thursday, arm was terribly sore, I couldn't move it much until yesterday. Was also super fatigued and had a headache for two days afterwards, so I'm not looking forward to the second dose after reading everyone's experiences. But I'm grateful I have the chance to get it at all!

I wouldn't automatically assume anaphylaxis. Some people have vasovagal responses. I have a good friend who passes out maybe a quarter of the time when getting a shot, or at the sight of blood. She also had a code blue called several years ago when we were getting the flu vaccine, it's procedure. Could have been anaphylaxis, also could have been other things.

 

[just_a_cigar]

I wouldn't automatically assume anaphylaxis. Some people have vasovagal responses. I have a good friend who passes out maybe a quarter of the time when getting a shot, or at the sight of blood. She also had a code blue called several years ago when we were getting the flu vaccine, it's procedure. Could have been anaphylaxis, also could have been other things.

The only reason I didn't think it was a response to the act of getting a shot or blood was because they were already sitting in the waiting area for the 15 mins. But you are right, it could be a number of things 🤷‍♀️

 

[sparkysparkyboomman]

I’ve received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
I’ve never had any reaction to a vaccine except mild arm soreness.

For both doses, I had a days’ worth of muscle aches, fatigue, nausea, and slight fever of ~99.2. Arm was very sore but was fine 2 days post-vaccine. Took some motrin and the day off.

 

[WisNeuro]

The only reason I didn't think it was a response to the act of getting a shot or blood was because they were already sitting in the waiting area for the 15 mins. But you are right, it could be a number of things 🤷‍♀️

Statistcaly speaking, it's more likely a vasovagal response, even if a short time after the shot, just given rates. There is even that video of the nurse having a vasovagal syncopal episode following the vaccine that got the antivaxxers all up in arms. Could have been a host of things, but statistically, vasovagal is most likely unless anaphylaxis is confirmed.

 

[WisNeuro]

I’ve received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
I’ve never had any reaction to a vaccine except mild arm soreness.

For both doses, I had a days’ worth of muscle aches, fatigue, nausea, and slight fever of ~99.2. Arm was very sore but was fine 2 days post-vaccine. Took some motrin and the day off.

Heck, that's still within the normal range of daily fluctuation.

 

[bookwormpsych]

I did get the second Pfizer dose the week before last. First one just made my arm hurt terribly. I knew the second one was going to be awful, though. The first dose - my arm was sore about 10 hours later. The second dose, I got at 8am and my arm hurt so bad I couldn't lift it by 10 am (also, I have some sort of muscular problem - can't remember the name of it - so this extreme arm pain is likely unusual for most). Toward the end of that day, though, I felt like I was coming down with something like the flu. The next day I had to call in from work due to feeling like absolute butt and it took me about 4 days to feel "normal" again. I do have a low-functioning/weak immune system, though, and again it is likely that my body is just an extremist. BUT, I'm alive and vaccinated, woohoo!

 

[cara susanna]

I had the first dose of Moderna and only side effect was a REALLY sore arm. Of course, I know that dose 2 is supposed to be the worse one.