Replies

Someone I know, who had Wuhan, tested positive, and then gave it to me, back in November, recieved his first shot of Pfizer vaccine on Friday. He woke up 4am Saturday with chills, fever, aches, and feeling absolutely terrible. He admitted to me he felt worse than when he had the actual batflu. Supposedly, this happens to people who receive the vaccine who had Wuhan already.

So, here is my question, why should I get this vaccine if I am going to get sick anyway, I still have to wear a mask, the vaccine will not prevent me from getting or spreading Wuhan, and I have already had it and it was mild for me?

“here is my question, why should I get this vaccine if I am going to get sick anyway, I still have to wear a mask, the vaccine will not prevent me from getting or spreading Wuhan, and I have already had it and it was mild for me?”

“if I am going to get sick anyway”

The symptoms from the vaccine are just the immune response, not the actual disease.

“I still have to wear a mask”

That is just political policy, relatively unrelated to reality.

“the vaccine will not prevent me from getting or spreading Wuhan”

It does protect you strongly from symptomatic illness, serious illness or death from the Wu Flu. No vaccine is a 100% guarantee, but these are better than most - 95% protection against symptomatic disease, and near 100% protection against death from the disease. Large scale studies in Israel showed the Pfizer vaccine to be about as effective in preventing a recipient from spreading the disease, as it was in preventing symptomatic illness (about 95%).

“I have already had it and it was mild for me”

A vaccine booster shot will likely produce stronger, and longer lasting immune response toward the disease. That is seen across many diseases and vaccines.

The vaccines produce a large quantity of the virus marker (epitope), equivalent to a quite large infection, so that the immune response to the vaccine is also large.

The larger the immune response, and (generally) the more often the immune system sees the same thing infecting again, the stronger the long term immune response (T cell and B Cell memory), as opposed to just short term antibodies. Two challenges generally produce a much stronger long term immunity. That is why booster shots and multi-shot series are common with many vaccines.

“he felt worse (after the first vaccine shot) than when he had the actual batflu.”

Generally, the second challenge seems to evoke the most symptoms (in those who did not have serious illness), among those who do experience symptoms.

So the first vaccine shot in those who previously had mild or asymptomatic COVID, or the second vaccine shot in those never infected.

That is believed to be because the immune system responds much faster the second time, and seems to further learn to gauge not to over-react after that.

Many people don’t really experience symptoms from the vaccines, but a significant number do. I always recommend planning a light schedule or day off after the second shot (first shot, if you know you’ve had the ‘Rona).

One Freeper recommended tylenol for the vaccine reaction symptoms.