I Got The Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine. Here’s What It Was Like.
I received my first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine about a week ago and I’m sharing what it has been like so far in case it will help others.
So, last week I became eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in my state and I was able to make an appointment the next day at Walgreens.
I do want to point out that IF you are wanting to get the vaccine and are having a hard time scheduling an appointment or want to choose which vaccine you get, go to the https://vaccinefinder.org/ website.
Now, my husband and I had back to back appointments to receive our COVID-19 vaccines and we both decided to go with Pfizer.
Why? Because we had heard that it gave less side effects than Moderna. This would make sense being that Pfizer uses about 3x less of a dose than Moderna. You can read about that here.
When I arrived to my appointment, I filled out a few forms and waited about 5 minutes to receive my dose from Walgreens.
As soon as I got it, they informed me that it was a good idea to stick around for about 15 minutes to make sure I didn’t have a reaction so I just walked around the store.
That same day, my arm was quite sore but nothing worse than when I’d get the flu shot.
A few hours later I got a headache and felt a bit nauseous so I ended up going to bed.
By the next morning, the arm soreness was gone and I felt pretty good.
By day 3 I noticed I felt different and not like myself. I have had a mild headache. I live with headaches quite regularly so I am used to that.
But what I did not expect was the exhaustion.
I have been SO TIRED ever since I received my vaccine.
I am talking about, I used to be the person that would rarely nap and all of a sudden I am taking naps every day, going to bed early and I just feel so exhausted.
All I feel like I want to do is sleep. Which is hard to do with 3 young kids at home.
In the packet Walgreens gave me on information about the vaccine, it says side effects include:
- injection site pain
- tiredness (yep, I’ve had that for sure)
- headache (had that)
- muscle pain
- chills
- joint pain
- fever
- injection site swelling
- injection site redness
- nausea (only had the first day)
- feeling unwell (yeah, I do but mostly because I am tired)
- swollen lymph nodes
Aside from feeling exchausted, I’ve been fine.
Now, it’s important to note that my husband received the exact same vaccine on the same day and he’s been fine. He had a bit arm soreness the 2nd day but he went from always napping daily to not napping at all this past week so go figure.
Just as a precaution, I did put in a call to my doctor and they advised me my side effects are normal, my body is doing it’s job and the symptoms should subside over the next few days.
So, if you are on the fence about getting the COVID-19, hopefully this will help you make a decision.
I will say, if the worst is that I get a headache and feel tired, I’d rather have that then COVID-19. I have heard from family and friends, it is awful.
I will keep you all updated with my second dose. Now I’m off to take another nap!