Here’s Why Your Second Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine Will Likely Have Stronger Side Effects

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A COVID-19 vaccine is administered at a drive-through clinic in the Los Angeles area. Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram/Getty Images
  • Experts say you’re more likely to have stronger side effects after a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine than the first dose.
  • The side effects can include fatigue, arm soreness, and fever.
  • Experts note these side effects are usually mild and disappear 48 hours after vaccination.

Some people who have received the COVID-19 vaccination report they feel ill after getting their first shot.

Even more say the second shot can be followed by symptoms such as fever, fatigue, headache, and soreness at the injection site on their arm.

In most cases, that’s actually a good thing.

These common symptoms are typically signs that the vaccine has triggered a response by your immune system.

And that’s what it is supposed to do.

“When you feel sick or have a fever, that’s largely your body responding,” Dr. Debra Powell, the chief of infectious diseases at Tower Health in Pennsylvania, told Healthline. “It’s usually a very short-term thing and much better than getting COVID and being sick for 2 weeks or in the hospital.”

Source: healthline