This article was provided by the Henry Ford LiveWell blog, a tool developed by Henry Ford Health System to feature health and wellness advice and insights on a variety of topics that encompass the whole person – body, mind and spirit.
It’s an exciting time in history. Here and around the world, people have started to receive the first COVID-19 vaccinations, signaling the beginning of the end of this pandemic. Due to limited supplies (and federal and state priority orders), frontline health care workers were first in line. But now, in Michigan, eligibility has expanded to people 65 years of age and older, along with a larger group of essential workers.
Local health departments, health systems and other vaccination sites are working hard to meet the high demand during this unprecedented vaccine roll-out.
Before getting vaccinated, there are things you can do to prepare. Here, Allison Weinmann, M.D., an infectious disease specialist with Henry Ford Health System, shares what to do—and when.
Before your appointment, learn about the vaccine.
It’s always a good idea to read up (from reputable sources) about the vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and health care systems, for example, are great places to get the facts.
A bit of background information: The COVID-19 vaccine is safe and 95% effective. It does not contain live virus so it cannot give you COVID-19. Rather, it contains messenger RNA (mRNA) from the genetic code of COVID-19’s spike protein. Our bodies make this protein, which then prompts our immune system to make protective antibody proteins, protecting us from COVID-19 infection. mRNA degrades rapidly and never gets near human DNA.
You can learn more vaccine facts here.
Eat beforehand and arrive well-rested.
The night before your appointment, make sure to get a good night’s sleep—it will help your immune system work to its fullest potential. If your appointment is around a mealtime, you should also eat beforehand and drink water—don’t go to your appointment hungry or thirsty.
Be ready to schedule your second appointment.
Both of the vaccines being distributed now (Pfizer and Moderna) require two shots, spaced a few weeks apart. Receiving both vaccinations during this time frame is important to ensure that you receive full protection from COVID-19. During your first appointment, you will be asked to make an appointment for your second vaccination. Make sure it is a time and day that works for your schedule, as it’s important not to cancel.
Monitor your side effects.
After getting the shot, you’ll be asked to wait for 15 minutes before leaving the doctor’s office to ensure you don’t have an allergic reaction. (If you’ve had an allergic reaction to a vaccine in the past, you’ll be asked to wait 30 minutes.)
After that, you are free to go. You may experience side effects like injection site pain, body aches, chills and a headache, but they should go away after 24 to 48 hours. These side effects don’t mean you have an infection—and you are not contagious. These side effects show that your body is creating an immune response and that the vaccine is working. You can take acetaminophen (like Tylenol) to help ease symptoms, but do not take it before vaccination to prevent side effects – it may blunt the immune response.
Keep your vaccine record card.
At your appointment, you will receive a vaccination card with your name, date of vaccination and type of vaccine (whether Pfizer or Moderna) written on it. Keep this card with you—or better yet, take a picture of it—so you don’t forget when you were vaccinated and the type of vaccine you received. You must receive the same type of vaccine for your second dose as you did for your first, so please bring this card to your second-dose appointment.
This card may also be important in the future to show before going into public places, such as your workplace or before getting on an airplane.
Continue to follow CDC guidelines to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
After your first vaccination, you are still susceptible to contracting COVID-19. It can take around 2 weeks after your second vaccination to build up full immunity. But even after that, right now it is important to wear a face mask in public, practice social distancing, and wash your hands frequently.
“We don’t yet know whether you can be a carrier for COVID-19 after you’ve been vaccinated,” says Dr. Weinmann. “And we don’t know who has been vaccinated and who hasn’t. The vaccine is 95% effective, which is very good, but that means there’s still a 5% chance you could get it, so it’s very important to continue masking, social distancing and practicing hand hygiene.”
When a large portion of the population has been vaccinated, which could be later this year, we will be able to go back to life the way it was.
“Getting vaccinated is vitally important to protect you, your family and the community,” says Dr. Weinmann. “The sooner most of us are vaccinated, the sooner this pandemic will be resolved.”
This article was provided by the Henry Ford LiveWell blog, a tool developed by Henry Ford Health System to feature health and wellness advice and insights on a variety of topics that encompass the whole person – body, mind and spirit.