Covid vaccination

[Rivière]

I can't decide if this is meant to be a discussion or a question. I think it's kind of both...?

Anyway...

I've now had both doses of the vaccination (Pfizer). The first one was ok. I had a bit of a sore arm and that was it.... until a few days later when it really hit me and I actually had to take a day off work, I was that unwell. I had sneezes, a sore throat, and then a chest infection. It took around 2 weeks to clear.

The second one (15th August), already it's made me feel unwell right off the bat. My arm was so sore and dead. I started getting body pains the same day I had it and I just felt really wiped out. Last night I couldn't sleep because I was in that much pain with my arm and with body aches. I couldn't lie anywhere because I was so sore all over. Every position just hurt. Even getting out of bed the next morning was a nightmare. I woke up feeling so stiff and tired. I had a massive headache brewing as well.

Someone I know who had Moderna ended up having to go on antibiotics because it caused a huge amount of swelling in their arm. A member of staff at work had their second dose and also caught a chest infection. I think they too had Pfizer. And others just generally felt tired regardless of which vaccination they were given.

For those of you who've had your first, or both doses of the vaccination, how did your body react to it? Did you feel ok overall? Was one better than the other?

[Stacey]

Personally, I had 2 doses of Moderna. The first dose my arm hurt, could barely lift it for about a day and a half and it triggered a flare-up of my IBS. The second dose I had some mild chills that night but the worst part was the tiredness, I was SO TIRED like someone had me hooked up to a general anesthetic. Tiredness hit me exactly 24 hours after my shot and all I could do was sleep. I ended up taking the morning off work (2 days post shot) because I could barely wake up, ended up sleeping about 20 hours from Sunday into Monday afternoon.

From everything, I've heard from my friends/family and clients coming into the clinic. 2nd shot has typically been the worst and those that got Moderna seemed to have more side-effects than Pfizer (though that's not the case of everyone, obv). Overall though, I'd say I've heard just as many people report no issues other than a sore arm as those that had side effects and no one I know had anything particularly bad except one person that found out they were allergic to a preservative.

[Ennui.]

I also had two doses of Moderna. Some of my coworkers were out the next day or left early due to fatigue and aches, but it wasn't anything that made them feel like they were going to die and it lasted about 24 hours. For me, I had a headache but I get those chronically anyway, fatigue, a very low grade fever, and a tiny bit of nausea. I was able to work through it anyway. My arm wasn't more sore than anyone else's.

I've heard that the second shot is worse than the first for people who haven't had Covid, and that the first shot tends to be worse for people who have had Covid in the past. Like Stacey, I haven't had anyone who has experienced a severe reaction, mainly the things you get with any other shot.

[Everglow.]

I've had my first dose of Pfizer and had pretty much no reaction to it at all. I'm due my second dose in the next couple of weeks. My sister had the moderns and could hardly move her arm for 24 hours. A colleague of mine had the AstraZeneca one though and was sick for about three days with a fever and feeling really run down, so it seems pretty random.

I have had covid, so I expect at least one of the jabs to give me some sort of reaction as I've heard this is the case.

[Dawn.]

My boyfriend and I have had our first doses of AstraZeneca last Monday and besides the sore arm, a very slight headache which painkillers fixes and tiredness, we were both fine. I did have stomach pains the next day but it was bearable and it went away the next day.
A co-worker of mine had her second dose of Pfizer on Monday and was really unwell yesterday so she went home early because of it.