Pfizer vaccine reactions?

[magnus]

Here's what I've heard thus far.

2nd shot definitely more impactful than 1st.

1 friend had no symptoms after 1st, and then had body chills and shoulder pain (I assume ache) after 2nd.  Took a tylenol after the 2nd shot to combat symptoms.
Another friend said their department were all nearly out of it for 1-2 days after the 2nd shot.

Another friend had shoulder ache and a headache later that night after the 1st shot.  Then shoulder ache and general fatigue for about 24 hours after 2nd shot (and maybe body chils...felt cold).

Another friend had a low grade fever after the 2nd shot.

[magnus]

Lots in the news these days, there have apparently been two deaths where people have gotten the 1st Pfizer vaccine shot.

1 healthy physician passed away 2 weeks after his shot
1 healthy surgery assistant passed away a few days after her shot

https://www.wionews.com/world/miami-doct...ion-355619

No direct link has been found. And if you think about it...given millions of shots, it's probably amazing that only 2 deaths have been reported (figuring the average death rate is much higher than that)

[dabigv13]

My first shot I had a pretty bad headache, something I'm not prone to, and a low grade fever, along with a mildly sore arm. I took tylenol and was fine the next day. My second shot I took a tylenol an hour after and had no symptoms besides a sore arm. 

I think this is not common though. Most people I know who have had two shots think the second one affected them more. Older people seem to have less side effects than younger. This is all anecdotal obviously.

[akiddoc]

I got the Pfizer vaccine 2 days ago (#1). 

Very sore arm for about 18 hours, now resolved.

Headache and nausea for about 16 hours, starting about 12 hours after administration. Some sweating for 36 hours but no fever. Now no symptoms at all.

One friend with no symptoms after #1 or after #2. 

Another friend with body aches after dose #1, awaiting dose #2.

[thatboy]

Anyone have thoughts on this Pfizer story?
Norwegian health officials have adjusted their advice on who gets a COVID-19 vaccine as 29 frail elderly people die

Apparently officials are not concerned by these numbers. It sounds like 29 out of 30,000 total vaccinations -- which is about 0.1%. On the other hand, that percentage would be higher, presumably, if compared to just the subset of 30,000 that were over 75 years old.

Anyway, I am not too concerned myself but just wondering if someone more informed than me has any thoughts.

[M_T]

The link above didn't work for me. Here are a news and a press release (with more info on the reactions) from Norway.

https://www.thelocal.no/20210116/norway-...or-elderly

https://legemiddelverket.no/nyheter/covi...-are-frail

https://legemiddelverket.no/Documents/En...202021.pdf

"In Norway we have a “reporting culture” for vaccines ADRs where the normal procedure is to report all suspected adverse reactions for new vaccines. Healthcare professionals have a low threshold for reporting possible adverse reactions, even when the causal relationships appears very unclear"

These Pfizer vaccinations were the only vaccinations to Jan. 15. Moderna vaccinations started on Jan 15.

I'd be interested in knowing the outcomes of people in the same class that didn't take the drug.

---
"The Norwegian Medicines Agency noted that the large studies on Comirnaty (BioNTec/Pfizer) did not include patients with unstable or acute illness - and included few participants over 85 years of age."

I'll note that, at least in California, there were relatively few people over 85 that got the vaccine in the first month. As of a couple of days ago, after 4 weeks of vaccines, California is reporting only about 1/3 of the group that included healthcare workers and LTCF residents were vaccinated. I suspect the vast majority of those numbers were medical workers with few 85+.

This news is concerning to me.

[thatboy]

Sorry about the bad link, but it looks like you found similar articles making the same kinds of points.

[akiddoc]

Second dose gave me very similar symptoms to the first. A little more fatigue on the second dose, but back to 100% in less than 48 hours.

[M_T]

Thanks for the personal observations. Reports seem to indicate generally more reaction for the second, which seems to make sense. My wife & I (avg about 70yo) had minimal reaction to the 1st (M) - some tenderness for < 48 hours but no pain. We'll see how the 2nd one goes.

In terms of post-vaccination observations, I'm hoping we'll start seeing data to update the info from the clinical trials on frequency of COVID infections, hospitalizations or deaths. We're over a 100x the number of people with the vaccinations as compared to the trials, so the data would be better even if not as methodical. It would be relevant to the virus circulating now rather than 3 months ago.

[ChrisGreene]

My father in law (79) felt "slow" the day after the first vaccine. He got his second and did not get out of bed the next day. He's not worried. He says that he is glad that his immune system is being stimulated so robustly. We'll be checking up on him today.