These 6 things you need to know about your Pfizer/BionTech vaccine! Side effects and more…
These 6 things you should know now about your BionTech vaccination, especially if you’re planning a booster! From eligibility to side effects, here’s what experts recommend:
Latest Vaccination Insights
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As the wave of the delta variant continues to die down and more time passes since the vaccines became available in the U.S., more people are becoming eligible for a third dose of the COVID vaccine. But depending on your current situation, you may have some questions about the booster vaccine (especially the one offered by Pfizer) – from eligibility requirements to what side effects to expect. To address these and other questions about Pfizer-BioNTech’s third dose of the vaccine, we’ve compiled the latest evidence from research studies, doctors, and expert organizations. Read on to learn what you need to know about the Pfizer booster vaccine.
1. You are eligible if you meet certain criteria
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According to experts, you are eligible to receive the BionTech/Pfizer booster vaccine if you received your second vaccine dose at least six months ago and meet at least one of the following criteria You are 65 years of age or older, live in a long-term care facility, are 18 years of age or older and have an underlying condition that puts you at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease, or you are 18 years of age or older and work in a job that puts you at high risk for COVID-19 exposure.
Underlying conditions include cancer, diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and obesity. For a complete list of conditions, possible exclusions, and more information about your eligibility, contact your doctor or visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.
2. The third vaccination is the same as the first two.
You may be wondering if and how the third vaccination is different from the first two you received. According to Albert Shaw, MD, PhD, an infectious disease expert at Yale Medicine, the answer is that it is no different.
“The simplest answer is that it’s just another dose of a vaccine you’ve already received,” Shaw explains. “The concept is to prolong the protective immunity, especially if there is evidence that the protection wears off after a period of time.
3. You should receive the BionTech/Pfizer booster vaccine only if your two previous vaccines were manufactured by Pfizer.
According to Yale Medicine, so-called “mixing and matching” of vaccines has been used in Europe and other countries, especially where there have been supply shortages. And there are even studies suggesting that this approach – one dose of AstraZeneca’s vaccine (which is not available in the U.S.) and one dose of Pfizer’s vaccine – may offer increased protection. However, the current recommendation in the US is to use only one type of vaccine for all doses of vaccination.
4. You are likely to have a similar reaction to the third dose as you did to the second dose.
Everyone reacts differently to vaccines – from mild symptoms to severe discomfort. The good news is that by the third dose of the Pfizer vaccine, you’ll have an idea of what to expect.
According to a recent CDC study, “most people who received the Pfizer booster vaccine reported that local and systemic reactions were mild to moderate and transient, occurring most often the day after vaccination. In addition, the CDC noted that “the patterns of adverse reactions observed after the third dose of Pfizer-BioNTech were consistent with those previously described after receiving the second dose.”
5. The most common initial reaction is pain at the injection site.
Not only did the CDC find that most patients had similar reactions to a third dose of Pfizer’s vaccine as they did to the second, but it also identified the most common adverse reactions generally experienced by patients who received the booster vaccine.
In a recent report analyzing more than 22,000 participants who completed a survey between Aug. 12 and Sept. 19 after receiving the third vaccine dose, the CDC found that pain at the injection site was the most common initial reaction to the vaccination, followed by swelling, redness and itching.
6. The most common side effect is fatigue.
From the same report, the most common side effect of a third Pfizer dose was fatigue, experienced by 51 percent of respondents. Other common reactions experienced by participants included headache (38.4 percent), muscle pain (36.3 percent), joint pain (23 percent), fever (22.2 percent), chills (17.5 percent) and nausea (13.6 percent).