Adam’s Journal
After I got my flu and Covid shots this year, my arm was sore for a day or so, and I felt a bit run-down. When my wife got her shots, she had no soreness and felt fine.
What do you make of my reaction – and of Mary’s lack of one?
Dr. Scofield Prescribes
The short answer is that neither you nor Mary should read too much into your different reactions to vaccination. Your sore arm doesn’t necessarily signal that you developed strong immunity, and her lack of symptoms doesn’t mean the vaccines failed to stimulate her immune system.
The soreness you feel following vaccination is largely a sign of the immune system’s inflammatory activity at the injection site. Still, that early activity is not the same thing as the longer-term protective immunity the vaccine is designed to produce.
With previous Covid vaccine formulations, some studies have linked post-vaccination symptoms with more vigorous immune responses. In particular, those who had distinct side effects – chills, fever, headache and generally feeling unwell – produced more antibodies than those who reported no symptoms.
However, this correlation has not been particularly strong, and it’s been inconsistent across studies. And although higher antibody levels are one way to assess vaccine response, they don’t paint the whole picture. Other factors, such as immune memory and the response of white blood cells called T cells, also play key roles in building barriers against infection.
Post-vaccination side effects are not a prerequisite for immune response. And research has found that people who experience no side effects can develop immune responses just as strong – or stronger – than those who feel lousy following their shots.
So, I wouldn’t read too much into your body’s response, or Mary’s seeming lack of response. Vaccine side effects are a poor proxy for shots’ effectiveness.
Regardless, kudos to you, Mary and everyone else getting shots. This year, states in the West have already been reporting increased flu levels, with some seeing early-season infections at levels more typical of early winter. Meanwhile, Covid activity seems to have leveled off following a surge of cases this summer.
There’s no telling what the upcoming months hold. But vaccination offers the best protection against serious illness from this year’s strains of circulating respiratory viruses, whether flu or Covid.
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Dr. Hal Scofield is a physician-scientist at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, and he also serves as Associate Chief of Staff for Research at the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center. Adam Cohen is OMRF’s senior vice president and general counsel. Send your health questions to contact@omrf.org.
