FDA Approves Booster Shot for People with Weakened Immune Systems

[Aerides]

Something else I hadn't thought about earlier is that there may have been more people who were becoming fully vaccinated sooner with Pfizer than with the other 2 vaccines, so there would have been more vaccine waning time for Pfizer recipients than for the other 2 vaccines. I don't remember how quickly each vaccine maker was able to ramp up their production. But it's another factor to consider.

This is why the studies on Israel are important, as they were very aggressive and early adopters of Pfizer. And yes, in the US, the first wave of jabs (Dec20-Jan21) was almost all Pfizer.

Also, there isn't much yet on comparison data on 3 jabs - maybe the small gap closes even more once both M and P get to 3?

I'd be interested in mixing and swapping to Moderna down the road, and would have done this time, but my option for #3 was Pfizer, now, so now is better than later, at this point. I want to go into the holidays knowing I'm at peak protection.

 

[Venturer]

Just got my Moderna booster 3 hours ago and I'm killing time, waiting for side effects.

In my group of friends, I know a few who had breakthroughs from Pfizer, but only 1 for Moderna. My Pfizer breakthrough friend's case is a story for a different thread.

My Moderna breakthrough friend's story is interesting. He was very concerned about COVID and would not participate in any activities that involved being near people. He has risk factors, so he wanted to be careful. He's one of my good buddies that I do disaster recovery work with, and he refused to see me in 2020. He talked a lot about not spreading the disease, etc. He got his second Moderna vax in March and we started reconnecting.

He had a breakthrough case 5 months later in August. But he didn't know it! He was interacting with people, going to the pool swimming, etc. He said he thought he had alergies, but didn't feel bad at all. Then his son called to tell him he had COVID, and since my friend was playing with the grandson, he better get checked. He tested positive. He never would have known since his case was so very mild.

^^^^^^^^^^ This was my experience as well. I was coughing and sniffling and thought it was my allergies acting up as well. I called for an appointment with my Dr. and was advised that the county was having a free testing station and to get the test 1st b4 coming in. Dw and I went and had the test and both of us were positive. I never really felt any worse than normal allergy sickness and DW wasn't feeling bad at all. Our Dr. told us to wait about getting a booster shot for 2/3 months so we are planning for Dec.

 

[FIYes]

I got my Moderna booster yesterday. So far, just a sore arm. The second Moderna shot had me feeling under the weather for a day. So far, the booster is just a sore arm. I wanted to get boosted before the holidays. We won’t do much for the holidays, but I still want us to be protected. I expect that Thanksgiving will trigger an uptick in cases.

 

[eytonxav]

A study linked in post 852 of this thread, one page back, states:

"Unvaccinated individuals with a previous infection have lower levels of antibodies to the spike protein compared to fully vaccinated individuals."

The full report and site is here: https://sph.uth.edu/projects/texascares/

I imagine this is comparing using equivalent timeframes from initial infection or vaccination, but in terms of those initially infected, I wonder if the viral load plays a role in the duration of antibodies.

 

[badatmath]

I got my Moderna booster this morning. I was the only customer with a mask.

 

[F.I.R.E User]

I got Pfizer booster 2 days ago. I did have low l grade fever for few hours at 99.5 F. I qualified based on 18+ age.

 

[JoeWras]

Booster report: got the Moderna on Monday (4 days ago). My arm hurt enough that evening to really bug me and screw up my sleep. My sleep kind of felt like a fever dream, even though my temperature was upper 98s, which is 1 degree F above my normal. Not really a fever by the full definition but felt like one to me.

The next day I had lethargy. It all broke at 36 hours and I've been fine since. This reaction was similar to my second shot, but slight less severe. My fever in the second shot was over 100.

Conversely, my 70 year old neighbor got Pfizer last week. Had pain in arm, arm pit and moved to his chest. 2 days later he started having shortness of breath upon slight exertion. He went to his doc and was diagnosed with some arrhythmia. A week later it seems to have resolved, although he's going to have follow up observation and tests.

This is the first person I know with what I consider a somewhat serious side effect. My neighbor also had a hard time with the second shot, but no heart impacts.

Don't worry, I'm not using this to preach anything. I actually got my booster knowing what happened with my neighbor. It happens. But Covid also causes the same impacts and worse.

 

[MarieIG]

I made an appointment for my booster (Moderna) next Friday evening with CVS.

I got the two vaccines through the County, but they are not distributing boosters currently, and the State has mostly Phizer, and a little J&J.

Making the appointment on the website was annoying. (I had tried to make the appointment in person and was directed to the website.) The site would not take my insurance info. I tried entering it three times, and it would not take it and proceed to the next window. Mind you, this is the pharmacy where I fill my prescriptions, I should be in their system. I was going to give up, but I went back, and checked off that I had no government ID and I had no insurance, and was then able to proceed. (If they ask me about my insurance before the vaccine, I'll tell them to check their computer; otherwise, I'll tell them after I get the vaccine.)

I am nervous about the booster. I had a strong, somewhat unusual reaction to the first Moderna vaccine (I believe it may have been neurological, I recall describing it as fireworks) followed by a month of arm pain, and a less dramatic, but still unpleasant and long-lasting reaction to the second.

I am a bit torn. I want the protection from the booster, but I wish I knew more about the latest variant before getting the booster . . .

 

[RetMD21]

I am a bit torn. I want the protection from the booster, but I wish I knew more about the latest variant before getting the booster . . .

It would be nice to know the future

 

[travelover]

It would be nice to know the future

It is hard to make predictions, especially about the future. Thank you, Yogi.

 

[explanade]

Can't worry about the new variant.

There's plenty of Delta spreading right now.

That is what the boosters are for.

If this Omicron variant needs a new vaccine, so be it, but it won't be available for months.

In the mean time, you're vulnerable to Delta.

And experts said they'd be surprised if existing vaccines didn't have ANY efficacy against this new variant.

They may have less efficacy but they should have some.

 

[Hamlet]

Can't worry about the new variant.

There's plenty of Delta spreading right now.

That is what the boosters are for.

If this Omicron variant needs a new vaccine, so be it, but it won't be available for months.

In the mean time, you're vulnerable to Delta.

And experts said they'd be surprised if existing vaccines didn't have ANY efficacy against this new variant.

They may have less efficacy but they should have some.

Yup. Get the booster and don't expend a lot of worry on Omicron until we know what we are dealing with.

 

[Hamlet]

I got the Moderna booster a couple of weeks ago. Just a little arm soreness and very slight flu-like achiness at the joints that lasted a day or so.

It was less impactful than my original shots, which gave me a lot of fatigue the day after getting them.

 

[audreyh1]

Can't worry about the new variant.

There's plenty of Delta spreading right now.

That is what the boosters are for.

If this Omicron variant needs a new vaccine, so be it, but it won't be available for months.

In the mean time, you're vulnerable to Delta.

And experts said they'd be surprised if existing vaccines didn't have ANY efficacy against this new variant.

They may have less efficacy but they should have some.

+1

I got the booster because I didn’t want a breakthrough infection, and my original Pfizer vax had supposedly waned in efficacy.

Whatever follows vaccine wise doesn’t matter. I’ll get it when available.

 

[Markola]

I’ll get the booster from now on whenever mainstream public health officials suggest it. I also get annual flu shots and last year the Shingrix vaccine. One time, I went to remote Colombia after getting arms full of vaccines against you-name-it.

I got my Moderna booster yesterday. Interestingly, they gave me a half dose. My arm is a little sore and I sneezed a few times today. That’s all.

There really is no excuse for going unvaxxed at this point. The data is so clear and getting jabbed is effortless for any American. CVS has a sign on the front door, “Free Flu and Covid Shots.”

 

[Hamlet]

I got my Moderna booster yesterday. Interestingly, they gave me a half dose. My arm is a little sore and I sneezed a few times today. That’s all.

That appears to be the standard for the boosters. They gave me a half dose as well.

 

[audreyh1]

At least the CDC updated AND simplified their language saying now that every adult should get a booster.

 

[Koolau]

At least the CDC updated AND simplified their language saying now that every adult should get a booster.

It just makes sense because we have all the vaccine we need. Sure, some folks will benefit more than others, but there is very little down side with significant upside. YMMV

 

[LRDave]

DW & I got our Moderna half-dose boosters yesterday. So far, no side effects and no soreness (for me) at the injection site. We are pleased to get this under our belts and wish we had them sooner.

 

[RetMD21]

FWIW, Moderna seems to better than Pfizer in US veterans. Still a booster dose for all adults is the right policy.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2115463

 

[JoeWras]

DW & I got our Moderna half-dose boosters yesterday. So far, no side effects and no soreness (for me) at the injection site. We are pleased to get this under our belts and wish we had them sooner.

Wow! Both DW and I had the worst arm pain yet that lasted intensely 2 days and waned on the 3rd. Even with the half dose.

 

[Markola]

^^^^^ I wouldn’t say my arm pain was intense but I couldn’t help looking to see if there was a bruise. There wasn’t - and I gladly endured it to lessen the chances of being on a vent!

 

[Gumby]

I would think that any intramuscular injection would make your arm hurt, even just pure water, as you are introducing fluid into tissue where it was not meant to be.

 

[RetMD21]

I would think that any intramuscular injection would make your arm hurt, even just pure water, as you are introducing fluid into tissue where it was not meant to be.

True, plus the injection is not always perfect.

 

[JoeWras]

I would think that any intramuscular injection would make your arm hurt, even just pure water, as you are introducing fluid into tissue where it was not meant to be.

The last 25 years of flu shots didn't hurt like this.