I got the J&J (Jannsen) shot earlier this week and experienced no side effects. Not even a sore arm. I feel cheated out of a "side effect from vaccine story!".

I was concerned about the lower reported efficacy rates of the J&J vaccine at first. After a closer look, I realize the J&J vaccine trials took place later in the pandemic, when the variants were circulating more widely. Also, there are subtle differences in the study metrics that make the numbers not quite apples-to-apples. So, I suspect the three vaccines are closer in effectiveness than the reported numbers suggest.

The wife and I are leaning towards saying NO all together. This whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I suppose down the road that could change. If that happens it will be the J&J shot. A week or so ago I heard on the local news from some Immunologist that the J&J shot provides a 100% effectiveness against dying from the Rona...so, there is that.

All three vaccines are 100% effective at preventing Covid-related death. However, it is true that the J&J was evaluated at a different time and under different conditions, and that it looks like the efficacy gap is narrowing between it and the mRNA types (as far as preventing getting the disease at all).

quote:

Originally posted by SigJacket:
Got first Moderna shot today. Arm hurts, like a flu shot.

A follow up.... the next day, I felt like I had Covid all over again. This time with a fever. Hurt all over.

This morning, that is gone, though plenty tired.

Not looking forward to second shot.

I had the second Pfizer shot at 4pm on Thursday. The first shot left me basically exhausted for a day- the second shot knocked me on my butt. I woke up Friday morning fine, but by noon I had chills, headache, and serious muscle aches. The muscle aches were the worst, felt like I got beat with a bag of doorknobs. Saturday I was exhausted for most of the day, today I’m totally fine. I’ve had co-workers get the moderna and J/J shots, it honestly seems like luck of draw on what side effects you get.

quote:

it honestly seems like luck of draw on what side effects you get.

Pretty much the same if you actually get COVID!

No reaction at all to the first Pfizer shot. I had the second Pfizer shot yesterday at 4:00 pm. Had some chills last evening, but nothing today. A minor headache today. Arm is a little sore. That's it. No big deal. We'll see if any other symptoms show up today but so far I feel fine. I'm glad I had the vaccination. You have to play the odds. For me I would rather take my chances with a vaccination rather than contracting full blown Covid-19.

Second Pfizer yesterday. Slightly sore arm but that is hardly noticeable considering the rest of me is even more sore from doing a ton of Spring projects yesterday. No other side effects that I have noticed.
Wife did Pfizer in Dec/Jan. No issues. Most of her coworkers did as well. Seems to be protecting them.

My second Moderna left me with one day of low fever and two days lethargic, by day three the arm pain was gone. Wife had a sore arm, that was all.

My Cardiologist who I trust implicitly also had the Moderna vaccine.

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
The wife and I are leaning towards saying NO all together. This whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I suppose down the road that could change. If that happens it will be the J&J shot. A week or so ago I heard on the local news from some Immunologist that the J&J shot provides a 100% effectiveness against dying from the Rona...so, there is that.

All of the three shots used in the US claim a 100% effectiveness in prevention death or hospitalization from COVID. The 95/94/66% numbers they throw around are the chances of getting mild symptoms, or the virus at all.

I found this article about what the “efficacy” number actually means.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/95-...doesn-200511616.html

IIRC ModeRNA has never marketed a successful gene therapy in nearly 6 years of business. Why should I think they did this in like 6 months?

Also, does life insurance cover death from taking experimental medication?

Why take this at all when survival rates are over 90%?

^^^Actually, survival rates are 99+%...

Being in an identified risk group vs reviewing conflicting information about the shots left me in a dilemma.

Eventually I took the 1st Moderna shot about 3 weeks ago.

Without obvious & demonstrable side effects, I remained 'undecided' for the 2nd shot schedule in about 10 days.

In fact I do have some concerning post shot symptoms that I can not dismiss.
A brief few days of lethargy that seem to have passed;
A recurring mild-moderate sensation of balance irregularity;
A short flurry of mild head aches that seems to have passed;
Episodic irregular bowel activity, odd as regularity due to my diet, is long established;
Minimal arm pain/tissue tenderness at shot site, mostly gone;
About a week of abnormal blood glucose readings (higher);

These could all be merely coincidental. I have appt scheduled with my regular provider.

My 2nd shot appointment for now is cancelled pending further study.

quote:

Originally posted by SigJacket:

quote:

Originally posted by SigJacket:
Got first Moderna shot today. Arm hurts, like a flu shot.

A follow up.... the next day, I felt like I had Covid all over again.

Waitaminute... Are you saying you had Covid-19?

If so: You already had natural immunity, so why did you get the vaccination?

They are all less bad than getting Covid.
I had Moderna and had one of the stronger reactions of anyone I know. I'd still get it again.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

Waitaminute... Are you saying you had Covid-19?

If so: You already had natural immunity, so why did you get the vaccination?

"Natural immunity" does not seem to be guaranteed after having had The Virus.

I say this because I personally know one of our SIGforum members* who was hit hard, very hard, by The Virus in December 2019. That did not prevent him from getting hit hard again, twelve months later, December 2020, after which he was under the very close care of a couple of doctors. He did get the shots after the second episode, presumably on doctors' advice, since he was being treated for aftereffects of the second bout. So it appears that having had The Virus is not necessarily reason to forego the vaccine.

---

*NOTE: I'm not going to invade his privacy by publishing his name here. He will identify himself and provide more detail if he chooses to do so.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

Waitaminute... Are you saying you had Covid-19?

If so: You already had natural immunity, so why did you get the vaccination?

"Natural immunity" does not seem to be guaranteed after having had The Virus.

My sister has had it twice. About a year apart. She is currently just getting over the 2nd bout. The worst she experienced was lack of smell, and that's it. Her symptoms and experience certainly don't justify ever getting this vaccine, and she won't.

Given this though, the vaccine surely won't protect you beyond what natural immunity is able to do anyway. So getting the vaccine won't guarantee that you'll never get the Chinese crud apparently. Not even close.

I got the J&J shot Friday at around noon at our local Walgreen's store. I woke up the next morning at around 12:15 and felt some aching muscles, a bit of a headache, and then later chills that didn't last real long. Wasn't really able to get back to sleep after waking up, but felt fine the rest of the day, with just a slightly sore arm at the injection point. Feel find today.

Well I go in tomorrow morning to get poked. I am not happy about this, but apparently that is of little consequence.

I have pretty much decided on the J&J vaccine.

1. The technology has been used once before in the Ebola vaccine.
2. Being only a single shot, it avoids the heightened reaction common to all (or almost all) two shot vaccines.
3. It has demonstrated at some efficacy against the new variants.

Hopefully you don't suffer a clot. Be careful.