To ask if this is true (vaccine related)

[crochetmonkey74]

I had my covid vaccine last week with mild side effects, I know several people who have now had it, with a range of severity of the side effects. A friend said she heard that the severity of side effects mirrors how badly you would have had covid , had you caught it. I've tried to Google this but no luck and although I understand how vaccines work, I don't have a good enough understanding of them to work out if this can logically be true. Is this right?

I don't see how that could be true seeing as many people who have had the vaccine have already had Covid themselves.

How could anyone know this?

Well considering 100 thousand plus have died of it I would say It’s not true lol or a good chunk of the millions who had the vaccine would be dead...

I wondered the same actually!

There's no evidence of this at all. One of the reasons younger people are sometimes getting more side effects is because their immune system works better so is immediately generating a significant response.

Also how badly you get real covid can depend on the viral load - so that's a variable in itself.

I don't think it would be possibly to know that. It's speculation

My friend told me that if you react badly to the vaccine, it means you have already had covid. 🤷🏼‍♀️ who knows

I've only heard that the younger you are, usually the worse the vaccine makes you feel, and that is good as it shows your immune system is actually working better to fight it off (the worse your effects, the better your immune system response). Dont know how true.

I don’t see how. I thought vaccine side effects were nothing to do with the thing you’re vaccinating against, it’s just the result of your immune system working to “fight” it off, rather than symptoms of the illness itself.

I very much doubt it. I had covid in the new year and I was really bad with it, and I'm still feeling the after effects. I had my jab at the beginning of Feb and I had no side effects at all.

@HOkieCOkie

Well considering 100 thousand plus have died of it I would say It’s not true lol or a good chunk of the millions who had the vaccine would be dead...

😂 especially given that they started with high risk groups.🤣

I'd read that younger people seem to have greater side effects of vaccine than 85+ recipients.

I thought more severe side effects meant you've had a greater immune response to the vaccine (to make antibodies). So the worse the side effects the better it has worked?

Anecdotally, it does seem that as a group, younger people have worse side effects as do those who have had Covid previously.

However, everyone is an individual and there is no way to predict who will experience which side effects and for how long. Nor does the presence or absence of any after effects mean you have more or less antibodies to coronaviruses.

If anyone experiences side effects, the current NHS advice is to take paracetamol if you are able to. It is safe to take up to 4 doses in 24 hours.

It's probably one of those things that are plucked off social medial and takes arms and legs I wouldn't read too much into it.

everyday it's not thinking that the vaccine would kill the older group, just that they may have had worse effects.
yuko good point about viral load
cunty interesting about your experience- obviously my friend was wrong

I doubt anyone has empirically measured this. This sounds like nonsense tbh. Plausible sounding nonsense.

explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2425:_mRNA_Vaccine

This Star Wars comic strip explains it. Fuller details at the bottom for those geeky of mind.

People that have had Covid previously sometimes have worse side effects from the vaccine, but no, side effects are not really understood - they are a sign your immune system is working but my understanding is we don't know why some people get it worse.

So, are vaccine side effects caused by your body making antibodies ? As the part of the virus in the vaccine is inactive

Ah gradually cross posted

Yes OP, most symptoms of a viral illness aren't actually the effects of the virus but of your immune system doing its job. EG a high temp is designed to make the body too hot to be hospitable to the virus so it can't replicate anymore.

The vaccine makes the body react to a particular protein strand or whatever it is - so it makes antibodies and T cells but also behaves as if it's infected initially so you may feel unwell.

I had vacc. Had mild
Flu symptoms for one evening.
Friend had more severe side effects but they only last 24 hours

Real covid lasts a lot longer than that!!!!!!!

@crochetmonkey74

So, are vaccine side effects caused by your body making antibodies ? As the part of the virus in the vaccine is inactive

Would that mean that no side effects mean the vaccine did not work? My mum had no side effects at all. And then I know a few people who reacted so badly that they will be refusing the 2nd jab.

It is all hearsay anyway. There is no evidence to suggest no side effects means the vaccine did not work, or that having side effects reflects how bad you will have had Covid.

I know quite a few people who've had the vaccine.
Some with no side effects at all. Some with just a sore arm. Some with enough of an illness to be in bed for a couple of days.
We are all ages - the oldest - 93 - just had a sore arm. The youngest - 35 - was ill for a few days enough that her h had to look after the baby. None of us have had covid as far as we know. One in the middle - tough guy in his forties - ill in bed with side effects. My h - man of 73 - nothing, not a twinge.
I cannot see a single discernable pattern, and I've never seen one reported on from any actual study.
I think we simply don't know.

I've had Covid with barely a symptom. I've had the vaccine with no reaction at all. BIL is the same age and hasn't had Covid. No vaccine reaction. Colleague had Covid and was VERY ill. No vaccine reaction. I could go on. I know around 40 people well who've been vaccinated and there's no pattern at all in our tiny sample.