DETROIT (WXYZ) — A new study has found people who experienced side effects following COVID-19 vaccines have greater antibody responses.
Does this mean if you didn’t experience any symptoms, your body didn’t build up an antibody response to fight COVID?
I can see how people might come to that conclusion, but that’s not correct. It doesn’t matter whether or not you had strong side effects or zero side effects, vaccines still provide strong protection overall.
The purpose of this particular study was to evaluate the associations between post-vaccination symptoms and antibody responses. Over 920 adults participated. They all answered questions concerning side effects and blood was tested for antibodies.
After analyzing the data, researchers found:
- 48% of participants had systemic symptoms – meaning fever, nausea, chills, vomiting, muscle pain, headache, and fatigue.
- 12% reported having local symptoms – meaning pain or rash at the injection site.
- And, 40% of participants reported no symptoms at all.
Of the participants who had symptoms, antibody reactivity was noted in 99% of them. Which is fantastic. But what about the group who had no symptoms? Well, I’ve still got good news, antibody reactivity was observed in 98% of asymptomatic individuals. So, it’s important for people to know this and not think the vaccine isn’t working because they had zero symptoms following the shots.
Did it matter in this study which mRNA vaccine participants received?
In the study, 55% of participants received Moderna’s mRNA-1273 vaccine and 45% received Pfizer’s BNT162b2 vaccine. But, it did not matter which vaccine participants received. Bottom line is that most people who got a double dose of either mRNA vaccine developed a positive antibody response.
So once again, I’m going to stress getting vaccinated and boosted. Myself and my family are, including my kids. And, even though COVID cases overall are currently low, they’re starting to rise in some areas. Countries like France, Germany and Britain are experiencing an uptick in not only hospitalizations but deaths as well. This is worrisome because the US tends to follow suit. Make sure you’re up to date with all vaccines, including the flu as the holidays are right around the corner.
Respiratory illnesses will really start spreading once families and friends start gathering for Thanksgiving.
