Last week, I got my second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s my experience of everything that happened!
I was lucky enough to get the vaccine because of my job, so when I received the opportunity, I took it. I received my first dose on March 12th at a local vaccine clinic. Once I walked into the room where they administer the shots, we were sitting in chairs that were spaced six feet apart. The doctors and EMTs came down each row and gave each person their dose of the vaccine. The shot itself did not hurt any more than a normal flu shot! It only lasted a few seconds and then I waited for fifteen minutes in case of any severe reactions (which I did not have). After that, I was on my way out and continued on with my day normally.
That night, I had pain in my arm. It was painful, I won’t lie, and I couldn’t sleep on my left side. The next day I felt pretty tired and couldn’t do much except lounge around and take a nap. The only pain I was in was from the injection site, but after day 1, I felt completely fine.
My second dose was on April 9th. It was the same scenario as the first, with the injection feeling the same as a flu shot and no initial reaction within the first fifteen minutes. That night, I felt completely fine and my arm didn’t hurt as much. Later in the middle of the night was when I felt more severe side effects. I woke up with chills and I actually threw up at 3 am. I could barely stand and I felt extremely weak. I ended up being able to go back to bed after a while, but when I woke up in the morning I didn’t feel much better. I had a fever and felt super nauseous to the point where I didn’t want to eat. I stayed in bed and took a six-hour-long nap, and was able to get some food down for dinner. I knew the important thing was to keep hydrating though. On day 2, I was feeling much better, but still weak from the day before, probably because I didn’t eat much. And by day 3, I was completely better.
This article is not meant to scare anyone away from getting the vaccine, but rather inform and advise people to know the side effects if/when they get the vaccine. I know everybody that I’ve talked to so far that has gotten the vaccine has had SO many different experiences, so just because mine was a bit worse, doesn’t mean yours will! You know your body is working when you can feel the side effects. If you have the opportunity to get the COVID-19 vaccine, I definitely recommend it. It’s so important now to help protect yourself and others!
In case you have other questions or need more information about the vaccine, here is an article from the World Health Organization.