The best vaccine is the one you can get, infectious disease specialist says
Have you been thinking, «Yes, I want to get a COVID-19 vaccine, but what about the side effects?» Those side effects could actually be a good thing. Side effects are the body’s immune system working, says Dr. Brian Metzger, medical director of infectious diseases at St. David’s Medical Center. COVID-19 vaccine: What we know about the side effects More: What to know about COVID-19 variants now in Ohio, Northern Kentucky «It is a sign that your body is working to respond to this and make the antibodies… and make the T-cells that will respond to the actual coronavirus if you ever encounter it in the future,» Metzger says. The vaccine allows your body to recognize the coronavirus and know what it needs to do to fight it. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use mRNA to train your cells to make just the spike protein of the coronavirus, and that’s what the body reacts to. [ Sign up for the free Coronavirus Watch newsletter to get the latest news in Ohio, Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati.] Most of the symptoms experienced by people in the vaccine studies and afterward have been sore arms and fatigue. Some people have had fever lasting 24 hours to 48 hours. The symptoms tend to be felt more in people who are younger, Metzger says, because their immune systems are more robust than people who are 65 or older. If you don’t have any symptoms after the first or second shot, do not interpret it as the body and the vaccine not working. «The vast majority of people don’t have any effects from the vaccine other than soreness of the arm and fatigue… some people don’t feel anything,» Metzger says.
