According to data published in Annals of Internal Medicine, people who experience flu-like symptoms - chills, tiredness, headaches, and feeling unwell, after a COVID mRNA vaccination tend to have a higher antibody count. This was based on a prospective cohort study of 363 participants from the San Fransico Bay area of California, US, who were vaccinated in 2021 and self-reported their symptoms.
Those who reported these symptoms had antibody levels about 1.5 time those of people who had no such symptoms after 1 month and at least 6 months after vaccination. In addition to those with self-reported symptoms, comparable results were found in 147 people who were objectively assessed for elevated skin temperature and increased heart rate.
The conclusion is that rather than acting as a deterrent, these symptoms should not be a deterrent but should be welcomed as evidence that the vaccine has worked.
More details are given in the report in Annals of Internal Medicine:
AbstractCOVID-19 is still around and mutates frequently to give new strains which can evade any immunity acquired from previous vaccinations of infections, as is shown from the latest hospital occupancy date in the UK, so regular booster vaccinations are essential to try to keep ahead of the game.
- Visual Abstract
- Background:
Concern about side effects is a common reason for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine hesitancy.- Objective:
To determine whether short-term side effects of SARS-CoV-2 messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccination are associated with subsequent neutralizing antibody (nAB) response.- Design:
Prospective cohort study.- Setting:
San Francisco Bay Area.- Participants:
Adults who had not been vaccinated against or exposed to SARS-CoV-2, who then received 2 doses of either BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273.- Measurements:
Serum nAB titer at 1 month and 6 months after the second vaccine dose. Daily symptom surveys and objective biometric measurements at each dose.- Results:
363 participants were included in symptom-related analyses (65.6% female; mean age, 52.4 years [SD, 11.9]), and 147 were included in biometric-related analyses (66.0% female; mean age, 58.8 years [SD, 5.3]). Chills, tiredness, feeling unwell, and headache after the second dose were each associated with 1.4 to 1.6 fold higher nAB at 1 and 6 months after vaccination. Symptom count and vaccination-induced change in skin temperature and heart rate were all positively associated with nAB across both follow-up time points. Each 1 °C increase in skin temperature after dose 2 was associated with 1.8 fold higher nAB 1 month later and 3.1 fold higher nAB 6 months later.- Limitations:
The study was conducted in 2021 in people receiving the primary vaccine series, making generalizability to people with prior SARS-CoV-2 vaccination or exposure unclear. Whether the observed associations would also apply for neutralizing activity against non-ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strains is also unknown.- Conclusion:
Convergent self-report and objective biometric findings indicate that short-term systemic side effects of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination are associated with greater long-lasting nAB responses. This may be relevant in addressing negative attitudes toward vaccine side effects, which are a barrier to vaccine uptake.- Primary Funding Source:
National Institute on Aging.
Dutcher, Ethan G.; Epel, Elissa S.; Mason, Ashley E.; Hecht, Frederick M.; Robinson, James E.; Drury, Stacy S.; Prather, Aric A.
COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects and Long-Term Neutralizing Antibody Response Annals of Internal Medicine (2024) DOI: 10.7326/M23-2956
© 2024 American College of Physicians.
Reprinted under the terms of s60 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
How the SARS-CoV-2 virus mutates and gives waves of new variant can be seen in the following chart from England, which shows the percentage of each variant over time as a percentage of the virus population:
So, the message is very clear: get vaccinated, and get vaccinated frequently, because COVID is here to stay and you never know what's in the pipeline as a new variant. If you feel a bit under the weather afterwards, be glad - it's worked!
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