Covid-19 vaccination experiences

Australia is about to give third doses in a month or so. They are also discussing giving anyone who had AstraZeneca either Pfizer or Moderna as a booster. Third dose responses will be reportable either December or January for some of us. I am guessing I will be due in January.

 

It's six and a half months since I had the first Moderna shot, and four months since I had the second Moderna shot. I'm still hoping to recover from the adverse reaction to the vaccines. I felt like I was beginning to recover about six weeks after the first vaccine. I still wasn't totally recovered at 11 weeks when I had shot #2. It took about a month after the second vaccine for the adverse reaction to really hit me. I now suffer with severe exhaustion, my legs (and sometimes arms) feel weak and shaky, the lower legs tingle all of the time and feel like they are vibrating. PEM hits me much sooner and much harder than it ever did in the past. I'm trying to stay optimistic and believe that this will eventually get better. I've had ME for 30 years and have always been mild/moderate, but at this point I'm definitely on the low end of severe.

 

In British Columbia, Canada, they are doing third doses now. We only have the option of Pfizer or Moderna. I definitely can't have Moderna again, and I don't know that Pfizer would be any better for me, so at the moment I can't go for the booster which I'm supposed to have as I'm immunocompromised.

 

The CDC are now saying that the immunocompromised may need a 4th booster.

 

What worries me is that when a new variant comes along. We would need a new vaccine dose for that to cover it. The damage that ends up happening to us is severe. Although I find it interesting that many with ME had no reaction or it was incredibly mild. Yet about a quarter had much worse reactions. I seem to be in 10% that had a severe reaction that lasted long term.

At any rate to those still struggling severely with the effects it's really awful when any recovery is fragile and often takes months - also quite rare in itself.

 

Deleted ... had the right thread open and posted to the wrong one. Doh.

 

I've not heard anything about my booster jab so went on the NHS website; it came up with a long list of 'access requirements'. The only one I ticked was 'accessible toilets';
unbelievably it came up with 0 vaccination centres with this requirement.

So I went back and removed the requirement and the nearest centre is 20 miles away.
Looks like I shan't be getting my booster.

(I did get a letter inviting me to book a flu jab at my GPs tho'). Maddening.

 

I seemed to lose track of this thread for a while ( actually I am still sleeping a lot more than usual since Pfv3 so am not on the forum so often) but I send my good wishes to those still struggling with v side effects.
@ukxmrv I am sorry you are still so affected by your one dose of AZ but glad the neurologist accepted that your symptoms are a v reaction, even if s/he cannot help further at this time. I hope he wrote to your GP to this effect so that some record exists of what these vs are doing.

 

The NHS website is completely non functional when it comes to the accessibility requirements... i clicked w/chair access & like you @Sly Saint it came up with zero options, removing that requirement it then listed 6 different locations, all of which said underneath their details 'wheelchair accessible'. Just stupid.

Here's what i have been able to glean from talking to others.

I was 5mnths (152 days) post 2nd shot yesterday. I have spoken to a couple of others in my/similar position, and also a few who are due right now rather than in 1mnths time) (ie they are 6mnths post 2nd jab in the last few days)

From the people who're due for boosters same/similar time to me, & trying to book now for an appointment in 1months time..... The appointment slots get snapped up almost immediately they go online for a particular date. So eg I went online yesterday (exactly 152 days since 2nd dose) it was about lunchtime, there was just one site & 1 slot left for my hometown, all others were 20-30miles away at least. So all this 'book after 5mnths, for an appointment to be jabbed after 6', is ineffective because all the slots get snaped up so fast it appears that there arent any.

And if you are already actually due for your shot, its chaos, no appointments online anywhere local (unless you happen to live near a huge centre/hospital), but occasionally a location will release a bunch of appointments. So if you happen to go online just at the right moment you might get an appointment, (a bit like its always was pre-covid at my GP surgery - go online at 3am & you might get a slot, because someone's cancelled).

Otherwise you will have to go to a walk-in centre. A friend of mine said she hadnt been able to get an appointment online so went to a walk in, where she met another friend who had booked a slot for that same day but was online a few hrs later. so it seems timing is everything :/

I know of 3 Boots pharmacies in my county (midlands) that are doing walk in boosters, it's not advertised but it is happening all day every day, so i imagine thats reflected nationally as boots is a national chain i think.

So it seems to be worth going repeatedly online to try & catch newly released slots (reminiscent of last year's fight for supermarket delivery slots) or trying to find a walk-in place nearby.

 

I connected with the "yellow card" system today finally by telephone. I'll add the phone number as an edit. I really wanted to do this because I had bad reactions to both AZ (1 and2) and Pf (3). The only way forward I see for me to have any further necessary vaccines is for 1) adverse reactions to be recorded and 2) for research to find out what is causing these.

I spoke to two people by phone having got accidentally disconnected from the first and both were very helpful. Both said they welcomed feedback. The second to whom I spoke at length was very keen to write down all the information and prodded me to spell the medications I take and the reactions I suffered.

I have a vague recollection that phase 3 of trialling the drugs was to take place after they had been administered to large numbers of people. Have I remembered correctly? Please correct if necessary.

There was mention of contacting me by email and I've just checked my inbox to find this.



Dear xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you for your report of a suspected side-effect to a COVID-19 vaccine.

Yellow Card reference:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you very much for completing a Yellow Card report for a suspected side effect to a COVID-19 vaccine. Your report supports the MHRA’s ability to continuously monitor the safe and effective use of vaccines in this pandemic.

Vaccines are the most effective way to prevent infectious diseases and they save millions of lives worldwide. Like all medicines, vaccines can cause side effects. Some side effects can come to light when given to a larger number of people than took part in clinical trials however, most are mild and short-term, and not everyone gets them. The known safety profile of COVID-19 vaccines is available on the Coronavirus Yellow Card reporting site.

The Yellow Card scheme is part of our long-established UK system for collecting and monitoring information about suspected safety concerns involving medicines, vaccines, and medical devices.

What happens next? Our team will now evaluate your report, alongside others received, to determine if the suspected side effects that you have reported have affected others. A team of safety experts which includes doctors, pharmacists and scientists will continually evaluate reports and consider other information, such as medical literature and data from international medicines regulators to help ensure that the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh any risks.

The safety of the public comes first. Emerging safety issues will be carefully analysed, and expert advice sought from the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM). If deemed necessary, regulatory action will be taken to minimise that risk and support safe use of the vaccine. Regulatory action can include adding warnings to the product information, sending out communications to healthcare professionals and patients, and possibly restricting its use. In such an event this would be communicated to the Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England and other public health partners in the devolved nations to inform any decisions regarding the immunisation programme.

If you’d like more information about our safety monitoring strategy please visit our website. The MHRA will produce regular summaries of the safety experience, including reports of suspected side effects, on our website.

If you are worried about a suspected side effect and need medical advice, please contact a doctor or pharmacist, or call NHS 111 in England and Scotland on 111 (text phone 18001 111); NHS Direct in Wales on 0845 46 47 (textphone 0845 606 4647).

If you have any more information about the suspected side effect, or if there are any changes to the details you provided on the Yellow Card report please e-mail yellowcard@mhra.gov.uk

If you do have any questions, please contact us via our website. Please note we cannot provide medical advice. Questions raised directly within a submitted Yellow Card report may not be responded to.

Thank you once again for your important contribution to the continuous monitoring of vaccine safety in the UK and for supporting the Yellow Card scheme.

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.



Well, this looks like a move forward. I hope that this can be circulated on sites where responses to the vaccine are being discussed. There was mention in my phone call of possibly being contacted again if deemed necessary. Am just wondering if i missed out any reaction - major ones were covered I think. It was quite a long call.


eta: yellow card phone number that I rang :0800-731-6789

 

You could try this one, too:

https://goto.dsru.org/covid-signup

 

I looked briefly. This one only focuses on AZ and seems to need registration within 42 days of having vaccine- excludes me.

 

This is also the thread for reporting about COVID booster shots, yes?

I just set up an appointment for mine. Due to most appointments being full, and the pharmacy not letting me schedule an appointment too far in advance, it took a while before I could find a date/time that would work for me.

I didn't want the shot right before Thanksgiving! I'd rather have any side effects the following week, thank you very much. So I kept logging in to check the schedule every couple days. I'm finally scheduled for Nov. 29th.

Minor tangent, in 2021 I have had all these vaccines:
* two-shot series for the COVID vaccine (Pfizer)
* flu vaccine
* first shot of the shingles vaccine (Shingrix, 2-shot series)

Strangely, the biggest reaction I got was after the shingles vaccine!

I'm fine now, but I definitely felt worse, and took longer to recover, after that shot vs. the others.

 

I got my Pfizer booster yesterday and my reaction to it was somewhat stronger than to the second shot. The fever was the same as the prior injections (101F/38.3C), but the symptoms have been somewhat more intense: persistent headache, chills and just overall feeling like it was worse than the second Pfizer shot. I basically just spent 8 hours sitting on my couch in a sort of "twilight sleep."

I awoke last night with a "shiver" that ran up the width my chest and then did so again, and again, and again with a frequency of about 1 second. I would guess that this was part of some process intended to raise my body temperature, but it was different in that it was confined to the upper part of my torso. Not long after I woke up, I felt my fever break (basically a cold sweat) and my temperature was down to 99.2F/37.3C

Today, I once again have an amplification of my arm and chest "sunburn" pain, although it has kind of spread further a field than that, like to my back.

I just took my temperature again and it's back up to 100.1, but I think fever generally tends to be higher at night.

Anyway, to sum it up, the symptoms produced by the booster were a little more intense for me, maybe by - I don't know - 20%? I'll see what tomorrow brings .

 

I'm so sorry that it's causing you a bigger reaction than the second shot. I know everyone reacts differently but this possibility is why I wanted to get the shot after Thanksgiving.

As I said, for me the shingles shot has produced the worst reaction so far, but I'll report back after I get my booster/3rd shot of Pfizer.

 

Ooops! Don't ask me how, @ahimsa, but somehow I mistakenly thought the last line of your post referred to a booster shot rather than the shingles shot. I blame my own booster shot reaction for my mistake! (Which is possibly true ). I removed my reference to your post to avoid further confusion.

FWIW, I do feel considerably better today than yesterday.

 

No worries! It's so easy to get confused when a post discusses several topics.

Glad you're feeling better today.

 

I'm hoping I get some reaction when I get my booster in March. I had zero reaction to both Pfizer jabs and I'm concerned that perhaps I didn't build antibodies?

@ahimsa

Can I ask what type of reaction you had from the shingles jab? I'll be getting mine in a couple of years.