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MAC and getting the COVID vaccine
MAC & Bronchiectasis | Last Active: Sep 29, 2021 | Replies (163)Comment receiving replies
@rits & @irene5 Here is the response I received from my go-to RN on the vaccine - she works in the ER and on the TeleMed & Covid lines for a major health care provider, and consults directly with the Covid specialists there. This is how they respond to vaccine questions:
"Some people don't have strong immune response to 1st or 2nd dose or both. Some people have strong response to 1st and not 2nd. Some people have strong response to 2nd and not first. Some people have strong reaction to both. The level of immune reaction that you can feel/see/measure has no impact on the vaccine's ability to protect you. Your body has received the info and build the antibodies.
Being tested for antibodies is not recommended. The test is expensive, and no medical decisions will be made from having it done no matter what the result is so most insurance companies will not pay for it."
That said, the vaccine manufacturers are also monitoring the early recipients to see when the immune response and/or antibodies begin to fade. That will be the key to determining if or when Covid vaccine boosters will be recommended, and whether they will need to "tweak" their formula to cover virus variants.
Based on all of the above, we need to realize that the world is not a perfect place, there is no perfect vaccine, nor any permanent preventative measure against all illness, disease and risk. I wear my seat belt because it reduces my risk of severe injury or death in a car accident, I clean, store & cook my food properly to reduce the risk of food-borne illness, I exercise to keep my body as strong as possible, I take prescribed meds to reduce the risk of my diseases progressing, I get preventative health screenings to reduce my risk of dying from cancer, and I get vaccines to reduce my risk of severe illness or death from infections. Is my life 100% risk free? No, but I still plan to live well & enjoy it.
Sue
Replies to "@rits & @irene5 Here is the response I received from my go-to RN on the vaccine..."
My husband and I received our second shot of Moderna vaccine yesterday around 2:30 PM. Neither of us had much of a reaction to our first shot except a bit of achiness around the injection site. As of this writing, he still doesn't have any negative reaction to the second shot (about 23 hours later) and I started to feel like I was under the weather this morning, about 9:30 AM. Low grade fever, achiness and chills (both low level). The symptoms are still persisting. I have been told by others who have had this vaccine twice that the symptoms usually don't last more than 24 hours. As I'm typing this message, though, I'm already feeling much better. Whew!
About antibody testing: I have not intentionally sought out antibody testing. But Red Cross conducts antibody testing for everybody who donates blood there starting last July. They have 3 categories for the antibody results: Negative=no antibody detected, positive=person has been exposed to the coronavirus and recovered, reactive=person who has not had virus exposure but has had at least one shot of a vaccine. I was tested negative for antibody for the 3 donations last year: July, September & December. Then I scheduled my first donation of this year a couple of weeks after receiving my first vaccine shot. The antibody result is now showing reactive. I talked to the person at the Red Cross about whether I could obtain anything more specific than the one-word result, she said they would not give out anything more than that. But at least I know that I do have antibody now due to my first shot.
Hi Sue, I had my first Pfizer shot on the 17th of April. Day 2, felt fine. Day 3, In AM felt fatigued which got worse. Also had pain across upper back. Day 4 Felt fine. Day 5 - After getting up experienced some mild confusion, slight dizziness, and some fatigue. After lunch more fatigue, dizziness, queasiness, fog brain, odd feeling in my middle chest. (I have A-fib) Just sat in the recliner for about 2 hours. Day 7 – Felt OK in the morning but after lunch, felt pretty tired the rest of the afternoon. Also felt chilled (took Tylenol) and was unsteady walking. Day 8 - My lichen planus--an autoimmune condition--(which had been doing better) flared and gums bled and a rash appeared across my upper back. That is also a symptom of lichen planus. Yesterday and today I feel OK, but having to put topical ointment on my lichen planus places.
Because of these side effects I began to read about the effectiveness after the first shot. For the last couple of days I've read about that subject on healthline, scitechdaily and businessinsider. They provide the efficacy numbers after 15-21 days of receiving the first shot. It was really impressive. What is not known is ,"does the efficacy fade away quickly if we don't get the 2nd shot?" Those studies have not been done--that I could find.
I guess my concern is, if the second shot is more "potent" what reaction can I expect. As I have A-fib, MAC, bronchiectasis and lichen planus, is the side effects potential harmful. Gosh. Who knows anyway. The reactions or non reactions are all over the place. Just hoping you have a source that may shed some light on this question. I've been batting this around for 3-4 days. Will need to decide by April 7th. Thanks so much Sue.
As always Sue, thanks for all your useful information and for caring. I am at a bad place medically with both my copd and my digestion causing serious problems since January. My qol is pretty low and I had hoped that with vaccination I would be able to put covid fear away. Of course everything is a risk. I guess I had hoped that the vaccine would do more to eliminate the risk for me than I now worry that it doesn't. I need to before careful than I have been for the last week or two. I can't venture out but I have allowed someone into my safe sanctuary.
It's still scary!
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Great reply....Thank you for sharing.