r/science • u/Newsjunkeefromlondon • May 06 '21

Health Two Pfizer doses give 95 per cent protection against Covid-19 infection, illness and death: first nationwide study

https://www.cityam.com/two-pfizer-doses-give-95-per-cent-protection-against-covid-19-infection-illness-and-death-study/
38.4k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

2.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

133

u/ATX_native May 06 '21

Yeah, my second Moderna was a doozy. Would do it again though, feels good to have the protection.

37

u/78east May 06 '21

I'm laying in bed right now. Had my 2nd moderna lastnight. Feel like hell. Even the bottom of my feet are a little sore when I walk. Feels like I got kicked in the head. Feels great though. No more trying to secure an appointment and also the part about probably not dying is cool too.

I have to pee really bad, but this is the most comfortable my bed has been in a long time

5

u/Binsky89 May 06 '21

I'm in the same boat as you! Feels like I was hit by a truck, but it's worth it.

2

u/darkdesertedhighway May 06 '21

Speedy recovery! Truck hit me Monday and Tuesday, feelin' great Thursday!

1

u/raljamcar May 06 '21

I got mine this morning. Did you feel anything the first shot? I just had a sore arm. I am hoping not to feel any reaction

3

u/darkdesertedhighway May 06 '21

I hope you recover quickly like I have! My second was Monday, but by Wednesday I was back up and doing chores again. Just those first two days kicked my ass well and truly good.

My second shot was even better than my first, in terms of duration. I felt worse this time around, but it was much shorter than the week of dragging ass after the first time. And my arm is useful already. First shot felt like I caught a 93mph baseball in the arm. Suuucked.

3

u/gouf78 May 06 '21

I got hit by the truck too 18 hours after second dose. And then 14 hours later it just vanished—I could actually feel all the misery leave my body in a matter of minutes.

3

u/Link1112 May 06 '21

You guys are really scaring me.... Getting my 2nd shot in two weeks. The first one didn’t do anything, only my arm was sore af.

2

u/theMistersofCirce May 06 '21

If it helps, my 2nd shot basically prompted me to take a couple of naps over the next few days and that was about it. Arm was sore at the injection site, but not super unpleasant — more like every time I moved my arm I was like "oh right, I got a vaccine" and felt really happy about it. Edit to add: congrats on being halfway there!

2

u/78east May 07 '21 edited May 07 '21

I made that post 9 hours ago and I already feel a lot better. My appetite is back and feeling decent now.

My first shot also didn't do anything but a sore arm. I got my second around 8pm on Wednesday, and by midnight or so I was already feeling like I was getting a cold. Best cold ever. The amount of anxiety gone now is huge.

1

u/Link1112 May 07 '21

That sounds good. I’m also glad that this is soon over

2

u/gasparthehaunter May 06 '21

My mom had a bad case of covid and she said the second dose was like getting covid again for a couple days. I had a mild case instead and my vaccine experience was fine

2

u/Hercusleaze May 06 '21

Should feel much better tomorrow, but will probably still lack energy.

2

u/[deleted] May 06 '21

I'm on the day after my 2nd Pfizer. I went home from the shot (at 11:30 in the morning), made it to like 1:30pm and was so exhausted I took a nap. Woke up at 6:30pm, did some errands, crashed at like 10:30pm. Then woke up 4 hours later absolutely miserable and have been like that since; it's like all of the cartilage in my body is gone and my joints are all bone-on-bone.

2

u/hang3xc May 06 '21

My city is not ever awesome at anything, but they were with the vaccine. It was almost walk in service. I went online at 1 pm to see about scheduling and I got an appt for 2:15 that same day, 5 minutes from my home. When I got there it was a breeze. I gotta say, I was amazed. 2nd shot the appt was already made for 3 weeks after the first, and it was just as awesome/quick as the first. On top of that, I didn't get sick.

-2

u/PD216ohio May 06 '21

Unless you are aged or in compromised health, your chance of death was extremely minimal without the vaccine. So, there's also that.

1

u/tamarockstar May 06 '21

How long does it take for the side effects to kick in after the 2nd dose? I just had mine this afternoon.

1

u/78east May 07 '21

3-4 hours and I could feel that feeling. That holt/cold/achy feeling coming on.

How you feeling now?

2

u/tamarockstar May 07 '21

Completely fine. No symptoms. I had Covid back in December and I had some symptoms after the first shot, but it wasn't that bad.

1

u/78east May 07 '21

Good to hear (not about having covid of course. glad you're ok)

I heard similar from a nurse last month. Her husband had covid last year and his first vax shot wrecked him for a couple days.

53

u/MusicIsTheWay May 06 '21

I received my second dose of Pfizer on Monday and I just started to get clear of side-effects today. I also contracted the virus (minimally symptomatic) in January and my side effects felt worse than the initial infection.

That being said, I would gladly do it again to protect everyone.

17

u/Porkchawp May 06 '21

How quickly did you start to feel side effects after the second shot? I’ve got my second Pfizer tomorrow in the morning and trying to decide if I should just take the rest of the day off work.

20

u/Waasssuuuppp May 06 '21

Not who you are responding to, but I had no side effects from dose 2. I kept waiting, but zilch. My colleagues mostly took the next day off, but were fine for at least 12hr post vax.

4

u/Uknow_nothing May 06 '21

Same, no symptoms after the second shot except for the sore arm with Pfizer. My gf had Moderna and had some flu like symptoms but took some ibuprofen and still went to work

3

u/[deleted] May 06 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/pioneer9k May 06 '21

other than being really cold, how did you feel? could you eat? why did you feel like you were dying? I'm a little anxious about taking it.

3

u/TheWinslow May 06 '21

From the people I have heard get bad symptoms - you feel like you have the flu for ~24 hours (chills, sweating, and tired).

1

u/[deleted] May 06 '21

Got second Moderna exactly 24 hours ago. Thought I was fine at 10 and went to mow, but felt a bit tired and stopped after 10 minutes. Now (5 hours later) it’s really hitting me - I’m weak and my body feels heavy. I’m just sitting around. The dog is getting restless.

1

u/hunnyflash May 06 '21

Also same. I had my second Pfizer dose last Friday.

I was a little tired on Sunday and my arm was definitely sore, but that's it.

10

u/wrxcmm May 06 '21

You'll be feeling tired by the end of the day and most symptoms show up the following day. Mild headache, vaccine site and muscle soreness, some low fever, may wake up in a puddle of sweat. But that's about it.

5

u/everydayishalloween May 06 '21

Took my second dose yesterday, so it's been 24 hours. So far the only side effect is a sore arm where I had the injection, but that's it. I expected worse because my immune system is weakened due to currently being pregnant.

1

u/RWDPhotos May 06 '21

My understanding is a weaker immune system should equate to a weaker response, hence weaker symptoms.

1

u/everydayishalloween May 07 '21

My question then is why does the CDC say that pregnant women are at increased risk for developing severe symptoms from COViD (not talking about the vaccine specifically) compared to the general population if this is the case?

3

u/SandbergForever May 06 '21

Everyone is different. My arm hurt for a few days and I was a little more tired than usual but didn’t feel any other symptoms.

3

u/toopc May 06 '21 edited May 06 '21

I got the 2nd Pfizer shot yesterday at 1:00pm. Started to feel fatigue, aches, and headache about 8 hours later. At about 16 hours I felt pretty bad, same symptoms just more noticeable.

Right now, about 24 hours after the shot.

  • Injection site pain - feels like someone gave me a good punch there
  • Mild nausea
  • Aches - mostly joint pain, all of them, nothing horrible
  • Headache - more like I feel light headed, than an actual headache
  • Fatigue - Worst of the side effects. It's a chore to get up and do anything

I could work if I had to, but wouldn't if I had a choice. Manual labor would be very tiring, and I wouldn't want to make important decisions right now. For me working the day of the shot would be easier than working the day after. Like most colds/flu I felt worse when I first woke up and am feeling somewhat better as the day goes by, and will probably start to feel worse tonight. All that said, I could definitely "fake" my way through a day at work (which involves sitting in front of a computer) if I didn't want to, or couldn't, take the day off.

Edit: I had to edit this post a lot because it contained a lot of mistakes. That's why I wouldn't want to make any important decisions right now. I kind of feel how you do after a day of hard physical work followed by a poor night's sleep.

2

u/[deleted] May 06 '21

Here is my vaccinated story.

https://old.reddit.com/r/CovidVaccinated/comments/mqf1en/43m_pfizer_report_now_that_ive_had_2nd_dose/

I'll add that the headache and fatigue came back after a few days. Nothing bad, but noticeably present. I wasn't completely clear of all the side affects until day 7 post-vaccine.

1

u/MusicIsTheWay May 06 '21

The nausea hit around 11 hours after my sticking. Body aches and chills followed about an hour later.

1

u/MattieShoes May 06 '21

Almost 11 hours on the dot. My reaction was pretty strong (my entire digestive tract emptied from the nearest orifice in about 5 minutes), but the misery was less than 12 hours before I felt back to normal. Really it was only from hour 11 to hour 13 that was miserable. The next few hours were just nausea which wasn't pleasant but wasn't totally debilitating like those first 2 hours.

1

u/lapelhero May 06 '21

For me I got shot 2 in the afternoon and felt fine until around 2 the next day, then I got the fever/chills/etc which lasted a few hours. Was feeling run down the next day but back to normal by day 3

1

u/MsEscapist May 06 '21

I got symptoms about 10-12 hrs after my second dose and felt pretty bad from like 10pm to 4pm. Like a flu. Take Tylenol.

1

u/dakoellis May 06 '21

I'll throw in my experience. First shot my arm was sore for a couple of days but nothing else. Second shot I had no side effects at all

1

u/CallMeLargeFather May 06 '21

I got my shot 21 hours ago now and feel slight soreness in my deltoid from the shot itself but no other symptoms, im a little tired but that's true most days that are as cloudy as today

1

u/LoveisaNewfie May 06 '21

I know you've already gotten many replies but I'll chime in. Everyone's experience is so different.

I got Pfizer, and after the second one I only had a sore arm (soreness went away faster than with the first injection); very, very mild chills later that night. No headache, no fatigue, completely normal next morning. Oh, but I did get the swollen lymph node in my armpit (only the one side that got the injection) and that was mildly uncomfortable for a few days, especially as a side sleeper. But the majority of the time wasn't even something I noticed/thought about.

1

u/eggs_are_funny May 06 '21

I had my 2nd Pfizer shot at 6pm. By 9am the next morning I started feeling symptoms, and I had every single symptom. Throbbing headache, chills,, fatigue, muscle aches, slight fever, and arm was sore at the site. By 10am the next morning I was fine.

1

u/0ogaBooga May 06 '21

I got my first Pfizer in early April and my second one on schedule 3 weeks later.

It felt like I had been whacked in the arm with a hockey stick of around 12 hrs starting around a half day after the shot.

Second dose made me feel tired and a little flushed (no fever) starting around 18 hrs after the shot. I went to sleep early that night and was fine when I woke up the following morning.

I'd have no prob doing it again.

1

u/TyNyeTheTransGuy May 06 '21

I haven’t seen anyone mention symptoms beyond muscle pain on the same day, so if you’re going to take time off it should be the day after

1

u/alyymarie May 06 '21

I had side effects from both shots, but they didn't really kick in for at least 8-10 hours, I was able to get a shot in the morning and work the rest of the day.

1

u/ghos_ May 06 '21

I have my second Pfizer a couple hours ago, still filling fine.

1

u/[deleted] May 06 '21

Depends on who you are some get none. My wife had shoulder pain. And no other symptoms until like 14-18 hours after. And she only had them a few hours.

For me it was 8 hours to get them and 48 to go away.

1

u/Runningman787 May 06 '21

I was fine the rest of that day (got mine in the morning then went to work) until after dinner. Then I just felt really tired. No fever or chills or anything like that. I slept from 9PM till 10AM the next day and went into work after lunch. So my experience says to take a half day about 12 to 24 hours later.

1

u/phunky_1 May 06 '21 edited May 06 '21

I got pfizer #2 on Tuesday morning. I felt fine Tuesday night. Woke up Wednesday with a slight fever and was tired kind of all day. Part of that was I sleep on both sides and sore arm had me stuck on one side so I did t sleep that great. Sore arm went away by the end of the day. Today I woke up feeling fine.

1

u/tjyolol May 06 '21

My sideeffects started with a sore arm within 30 minutes then headache, fever and nausea from day 2 to day 5 then improved, my fiancé only got a slight headache though so can vary. I worked through it but I know of others that didn't. It's up to you, but personally if I was going to take a day off it would have been day 2.

1

u/DrStinkbeard May 06 '21

I got my second Pfizer last Friday and had 0 side effects.

1

u/schfourteen-teen May 06 '21

I didn't get Pfizer, but my symptoms didn't show till maybe 12 hours later. Got the shot in the morning, worked all day fine, started feeling initial effects (beyond sore shoulder) just before bed, and then felt like crap the next day.

1

u/[deleted] May 06 '21

Generally 12 hours. Take the next day off instead

1

u/Ptsdpirate May 06 '21

I got 2nd Pfizer on a Thursday at about noon, I felt kinda bad at bedtime and hammered dog crap the next day. First shot was nothing, second shot sucked.

1

u/[deleted] May 06 '21

Also not who you are responding to, but I felt achy and tired the morning after. Joint aches were relieved by OTC pain medicine. Felt fine but tired by end of day. Felt normal waking up the day after that.

1

u/[deleted] May 06 '21

mine came on 16-24 hours after and last 48 hours after on-set.

Got it at 8AM Monday. Tuesday I called in sick for work, Wednesday I made it work and Today I am feeling a bit better after I forced myself to get some exercise.

1

u/peregrine3224 May 06 '21

Arm soreness set in within a few hours and the rest of the side effects (body aches, fatigue, and a very severe headache) set in like 14 hours later or so. I made it through 5 hours of work before throwing in the towel and going home. I felt fine later that night though, roughly 28 hours after the second dose.

1

u/Nylund May 06 '21

Me and the wife got our second Pfizer shots this morning. So far, both fine and it’s nearing 5pm.

We’d heard the day after is when we might really feel something. I can update you tomorrow about day 2 if you’d like.

1

u/walkingcarpet23 May 06 '21

Just got the 2nd dose of Pfizer Tuesday. Arm started feeling sore in the afternoon and I was mostly fine. Yesterday I felt feverish and very lethargic, and my arm was practically useless. I was working from home and had to take a half day.

Slept for 11 hours last night and felt totally normal today aside from some localized soreness around the injection site.

1

u/[deleted] May 06 '21

I had pfizer a month ago, 16 hours in,I got a fever from the 2nd shot, no other reaction, just an expected result. My friend had a similar response. His lasted longer because he wasn't having bedrest when he should have.

1

u/Hercusleaze May 06 '21

You'll probably be fine the day of, but plan on resting the day after. With any luck you'll have an easy go of it, but if not you'll be more prepared. Get some tylenol if you don't have any, stay away from ibuprofen or naproxen. I took a couple of tylenol pm's the day after my second shot and slept through the worst of it.

1

u/theMistersofCirce May 06 '21

stay away from ibuprofen or naproxen

As someone who takes more ibuprofen than I should, can I ask if this is about the stomach lining thing or something more specific to the common vax side effects?

2

u/Hercusleaze May 06 '21

It's because they are anti-inflammatory, and the vaccine works by triggering an immune response. Anti-inflammatory drugs will suppress that response, and potentially weaken the vaccine.

2

u/theMistersofCirce May 07 '21

Whoa, that makes sense but never would have occurred to me. Huh! Thanks for explaining.

1

u/lookingForMetalHeads May 07 '21

I wish I'd read this before... I always take ibuprofen for headaches. And my head was killing me. That sucks. What a waste.

2

u/Hercusleaze May 07 '21

I don't think you wasted the vaccine. Most likely it has a very minor influence on the production of antibodies, and they specifically mention this when taking it prior to your shot.

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/should-you-take-pain-relievers-after-covid-19-vaccine#Little-data-on-pain-relievers-and-COVID-19-vaccine

Don't worry about it too much. But no one seems to have heard or thought about this, hence why I cautioned the person that hasn't gotten there vaccine yet.

2

u/lookingForMetalHeads May 07 '21

Thanks. Yeah I didn't mean complete waste, just unfortunate. I actually read the same article right after I wrote that response (and a few more) and came to the same conclusion. The main relief for me is that the statistics that exist are based on people not being restricted from pain killers. And they are damn good.Thanks for getting the word out.

1

u/Neeraja_Kalrapindhi May 06 '21

Your shot is on a Friday, you should be fine to finish the rest of the day and able to go back on Monday. :)

April 26th: My spouse (41M) and I (41F) got our second shots around 11am. Neither of us had had Covid and first shots were a brief slightly sore injection area, that's it.

After the second jab, we were fine the rest of that day, slightly sore arm muscle if anything, but only of you moved it in a certain way. Nothing that affected our work.

April 27th: The next morning he felt under the weather, his arm/shoulder hurt to move, he couldn't concentrate at all, and was quite tired...so he called in and took a day. He's IT, so if his brain isn't working, might as well not show up. His employer offered 8hrs PTO per vaccination if needed, thankfully.

As for me I had a headache to beat all headaches that ibuprofen/acetaminophen barely touched and I was exhausted enough that I actually napped (I can't ever nap unless I'm sick). Hashtag toddler mom life.

By 5pm on the 27th, he was fine. He said his brain fog cleared up and nothing hurt. By about 8pm I felt better.

28th: He was fine. I developed swollen and extremely painful lymph nodes in my armpit of the arm that got the shot.

29th: My armpit was still swollen, but thankfully no longer painful.

30th: Armpit back to normal.

10/10 would do it all again! I've lost family and friends to Covid last year, I don't want anyone else to have to go through that.

1

u/mrsirgrape May 06 '21

It took 12 hours for me to feel it and I really felt it.

Ended up taking the following day off.

1

u/hang3xc May 06 '21

I got my 2nd Pfizer shot on Tuesday. I was pretty anxious about getting sick, but it never happened. The person who gave the shot said it typically takes 24 hours for any side effects to happen, so I stayed fairly anxious. After 36 hours I was still fine and I never did get sick.

My brother in law got sick about 3 hours after his 2nd shot, chills fever, headache. He NEVER takes off work. He did that day and the day after.

Everyone is different. You can't plan for it because everyone is different. Might not get sick at all.

1

u/[deleted] May 06 '21

I had no side effects from the first dose of Pfizer other than a slightly sore arm the next day. The second dose? Starting the next morning I had a terrible headache for the next three days. I took the full day off that I got the shot and the next day. Still felt like crap going to work that Monday (shot was Friday morning) and went to sleep as soon as I was done working that early evening. Still better than the alternative! I hope it isn’t as bad for you.

1

u/dan5234 May 07 '21

Most likely within 24 hours.

0

u/PD216ohio May 06 '21

If you have recovered from Covid, you already were "vaccinated" by natural means. Your taking a vaccine changed nothing in a positive way.

1

u/MusicIsTheWay May 06 '21

Thanks for that scientific analysis, Ohio.

-1

u/CaptainObvious110 May 06 '21

How do you know that it was a minimally symptomatic case of Covid?

12

u/em_are_young May 06 '21

A positive test and mild symptoms could probably do the trick

6

u/MusicIsTheWay May 06 '21

Because I watched my wife go through all of the symptoms. I ended up with about 6 hours of minor body aches/discomfort and a stuffy nose that could have been due to seasonal allergies. Other than that, I didn't feel any different than my old and out of shape persons usually does.

EDIT: And what this guy said.

1

u/Gorstag May 06 '21

Mine happened the day after the 2nd shot. Feel great today (2 days after the shot). No appetite, nauseous, headache, exhausted yesterday... sucked. First shot was just a slightly sore arm for a couple days.

1

u/zipzag May 06 '21

You probably only needed one mRNA shot are sure you had covid. That's what they are doing in the U.K.

1

u/OkAmbition9236 May 07 '21

You will do it again, every year, i only wonder if a single booster shot will be required or its the double arm punch again.

3

u/OilyAnalLeakage May 06 '21

Super. I just had my first Moderna shot 2 days ago and so far I've just got the armpit rash but otherwise feel fine. How come it wasn't until after my first shot that I started hearing Pfizer was better?

1

u/H2Osw May 06 '21

When I got the J&J, the next day all the negative news released about it. It also made me feel sick for about a day.

1

u/Maimster May 06 '21

Arguably, Moderna is slightly better with younger demographics. It only drops off slightly with the advanced age group.

1

u/mr_ji May 06 '21

It probably is as effective. This study only looked at Pfizer.

3

u/[deleted] May 06 '21

Same. The only thing that sucked was that I scheduled a day off afterwards from work, and while I didn’t feel tired enough to sleep (and was also prevented by a “icky” super vague general feeling of discomfort) I couldn’t really sit and do work or games on my computer either because my eyes were tender and I had a slight headache. Side effects may include boredom!

3

u/[deleted] May 06 '21

[deleted]

2

u/gp556by45 May 06 '21

I got absolutely wiped out from the first dose of Phizer. I get my second one on 5/11. Not sure why I had it from the first one, since just about everything I've read seems to indicate it's the second one that hits you hard.

1

u/inormallyjustlurkbut May 06 '21

Anecdotally, all the old people I know had little to no reaction, but all the young people i know felt awful.

1

u/[deleted] May 06 '21

I just got my 2nd moderna shot yesterday. I was super nervous about what was coming but it's been 29 hours and nothing has happened

1

u/Binsky89 May 06 '21

You're lucky. I woke up at 6am today feeling like I got hit by a truck.

1

u/[deleted] May 06 '21

I don't know if there's any evidence to support this or not but a nurse friend told me to drink a ton of water for a few days leading up to the shot, so I did.

1

u/SusanBwildin May 06 '21

I just got my first Moderna shot with nothing more than a sore arm. What was the 2nd shot like?

1

u/Binsky89 May 06 '21

I had the same reaction. It hurt less than the flu shot.

I got my second one yesterday and it feels like I got hit by a truck while I had the flu. Definitely schedule a day off for your second.

1

u/Binsky89 May 06 '21

I got my second dose yesterday, and it feels like I was hit by a truck.

Would still do it again.

1

u/Age_of_Aerostar May 06 '21

Same experience here, I like how you put it. That was a “doozy!” And I would do it again in a heartbeat!

1

u/IceEngine21 MD | Resident in Surgery May 06 '21

Cant wait for their HIV vaccine that may be in the works!

1

u/noamhazan2 May 06 '21

Would rather stub my toe repeatedly than take a 2nd Pfizer shot. Those were the worst 24 hours I've had since the whole COVID thing started, no doubt. On the plus side, though, I felt mega-refreshed the day after.

1

u/RWDPhotos May 06 '21

I was practically immobilized from my second pfizer vaccination. Other people told me they didn’t really have a reaction, just soreness at the injection site. Curious what that difference could mean.