Pfizer and Moderna have both reported that many trial participants experienced some mild symptoms and illness after receiving a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
More than 60 million Americans have now received at least one dose of the vaccine and it is clear that symptoms can vary widely, but not along obvious demographic lines.
This has raised many questions about why some people feel feverish or otherwise ill after the vaccine and others are perfectly fine.
UCSF is now launching a study to better understand the varying reactions.
Dr. Elissa Epel is a co-principal investigator of the BOOST study and Professor Psychiatry at UCSF.
“We really don’t know what those immediate symptoms mean,” she said. “We’re measuring these symptoms but we actually think the more you have, the better.”
The belief is that symptoms like fever are physical signs that the body’s immune system is responding and may signal a stronger immune response, but that has not been confirmed.
“People might feel a bit off for the whole week, and that is a normal part of the response. People shouldn’t worry, it’s not that there’s something wrong with their body,” Dr. Epel explained.
This also does not mean that the vaccine is not working in people who feel no symptoms. Data from the clinical trials demonstrates that the vaccine was highly effective across the group that received the vaccine.
Dr. Epel says that even in people who have no symptoms, their breathing, heart rate and temperature response in the days after the vaccine demonstrate that the body is reacting.
She and her team plan to study 600 people and their vaccine response over a period of seven months.
They aim to study how age and stress – two factors that have been shown to influence people’s response to other vaccines – may or may not be impacting the body’s response to COVID-19 vaccines.
But Dr. Epel says while these are important questions to scientists like herself, people who get the vaccine should feel assured that they are protected and their risk of getting seriously sick or dying from the virus are significantly reduced.
“For about a week afterwards, take it easy. Our body really had a big shock and even though we might not feel it, it’s making antibodies,” she said. “Symptoms or no symptoms, there’s really no reason to worry.”
Related
LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM App
Follow RADIO.COM
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram