People who reported experiencing side effects to the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines such as fever, chills or muscle pain tended to have a greater antibody response following vaccination, according to new research. The researchers found that after either vaccine dose, 446 or 48% of participants reported systemic symptoms while 12% reported only local symptoms and 40% reported no symptoms at all.
Having such symptoms after vaccination is associated with greater antibody responses compared with having only pain or rash at the injection site or no symptoms at all, suggests the paper published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open.
“In conclusion, these findings support reframing postvaccination symptoms as signals of vaccine effectiveness and reinforce guidelines for vaccine boosters in older adults,” the researchers – from Columbia University in New York, University of Vermont and Boston University – wrote in their paper.
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President Biden on Tuesday urged Americans to seek out updated COVID booster shots, as he received his own dose at a White House event.
“We’re here with a simple message: get vaccinated. Update your COVID vaccine. It’s incredibly effective, but the truth is not enough people are getting it. We’ve got to change that so we can all have a safe and healthy holiday season,” the president said.
“Now is the time to do it. By Halloween, if you can, that’s the best time. And that way you can be protected for the holidays. And please, while you’re at it, get the flu shot,” the president said.
