The good news is… folx are getting vaxxed and getting their COVID boosters. Yay! And one of the great things about DK is that we’re generally, as a group, all about the science, as well as supportive of each other in tough times.
The bad news is… part of this support system is promoting the idea that if you feel like crap after a COVID shot, that means you’re getting a robust immune response. This leads to potential concerns that if someone doesn’t get a nasty set of side effects, they aren’t getting a good immune response. Worse yet, someone commenting in another diary suggested that going to get a booster dehydrated would provoke stronger reactions, thus a more robust immune response. Ouch!
Bad side effects are not an indication of a robust immune response, and mild side effects are not an indication of a weak immune response.
If I feel sick after my shot, does that signal strong immunity?
Scientists haven’t identified any relationship between the initial inflammatory reaction and the long-term response that leads to protection. There’s no scientific proof that someone with more obvious side effects from the vaccine is then better protected from COVID-19. And there’s no reason that having an exaggerated innate response would make your adaptive response any better.
Both the authorized mRNA vaccines provided protective immunity to over 90% of recipients, but fewer than 50% reported any reaction to the vaccine and far fewer had severe reactions.
The bottom line is you can’t gauge how well the vaccine is working within your body based on what you can detect from the outside. Different people do mount stronger or weaker immune responses to a vaccine, but post-shot side effects won’t tell you which you are. It’s the second, adaptive immune response that helps your body gain vaccine immunity, not the inflammatory response that triggers those early aches and pains.
“Inflammatory response” (feeling crappy after your shot) does not indicate anything about the “adaptive immune response” (the actual immunity you develop).
It may be comforting to think that feeling like crap indicates something good, but it doesn’t. What is of more benefit is the sharing of stories and mutual support. But encouraging a strong set of side effects through deliberate dehydration, or over-exertion, or any other means, is dangerous.
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There is also confusion about treating the inflammatory response with NSAIDS. In general, prophylactic treatment (before the shot) is discouraged because it could interfere with immune response. Treating the symptoms of the inflammatory response after they manifestseems to be okay.
