Possible side effects from 2nd COVID-19 vaccine dose shouldn’t deter people, doctors say

For many, the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is simple, but the second dose presents the real challenge, leaving people to wonder if the shot is worth it.

Health care worker Jaime Crossan Debres was ecstatic to get her COVID-19 shot.

“I was so anxious and overwhelmingly thankful.”

So thankful that she documented the whole thing on Facebook.

“I really wanted people to see it from somebody they knew, and someone that was just like them and that had the same worries and concerns and fears that they had.”

Despite those fears, she had no problems with the first Moderna dose, but the second was a different story.

“By the time around 11, which would’ve been about 24 hours since I got the vaccine, it started to really be pronounced, the headache, and I was having some inability kind of keeping my head in the game. I felt a really kind of foggy fatigue under the weather.”

Dr. Rebekah Bernard, president of the Collier County Medical Society, says there’s no need to worry.

“When you have those reactions, they can be a little bit unpleasant but you’ve got to think of it as your body learning how to do an effective job at killing the virus in the future,” she said.

Dr. David Lindner with NCH agrees and says the side effects are worth it.

“Some people are pretty laid out, and I think that’s a worthwhile unfortunately event to prevent COVID.”

Crossan Debres said that despite the side effects, “I would do it a million times over.”

Lindner says doctors are more worried about allergic reactions than these normal side effects. He said most allergic reactions happen within the first 15 or 30 minutes, and mostly happen to people who have had allergic reactions in the past.