On 25th January, the UAE reached 2.57 million vaccinated residents making UAE in the top 5 list of countries with the most vaccines administered together with China and the USA.
If you have or haven’t booked a Covid19 vaccine appointment, here are some helpful details on what to expect after taking the vaccine.
EXPERIENCING SIDE EFFECTS
Remember that side effects are not at all negative since it is a sign that the vaccine is working and your body is starting to build its protection to fight off the virus.
What are the common side effects?
Vomiting or diarrhea
Feeling tired or exhausted
Swelling and pain in the arm
Pain in joints and muscles
Pain or throbbing in the head
Fever
How many days the side effects last?
Normally, the pain in the arm and other side effects kick in over the next few days and mostly last in less than a week. If the pain becomes worst and lasts over a week, you may contact your doctor.
What to do during these periods?
Before leaving the clinic or hospital where you got vaccinated, it is best to ask your doctor which over-the-counter medicine you could take in case you experience the side effects. For Dubai residents, Dubai Health Authority recommends taking Paracetamol when you experience mild and moderate side effects.
Apart from the recommended medicines, you may also reduce the pain in your arm by stretching your muscles and applying a cold compress over the swelling area. It is also best to stay extra hydrated during the first week to ensure that you fight other symptoms like fever.
GETTING A SECOND VACCINATION
Expect to get an appointment of your next shot of vaccination after 3 weeks or 21 days for Pfizer-BioNTech/Sinopharm and 1 month or 28 days for Moderna. COVID-19 vaccines that require 2 shots will most likely take full effect one to two weeks after taking the second shot. This is why experts advise to think as if “nothing happened” once you take the first shot because only the booster shot – the second vaccine shot – will trigger the spike in the number of antibodies making it stronger and higher in quality.
The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highly recommend to strictly follow the appointment for your second shot. This is to ensure that the vaccine will take its full effect.
FOLLOWING PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE
After completing your doses of COVID-19 vaccine, you must still follow the standard safety measures: wearing a face mask, keeping social distance, and washing your hands. Why? Because vaccinated individuals can still transmit the virus because the body’s immune response takes time to fight or control the infection. If a vaccinated person get the virus, he can transmit it to someone else while his immune system is trying to fight the virus.
Therefore, once getting complete doses of the vaccine, it is still a must to follow safety precautions for the safety of others most especially those who are not eligible to take the vaccine.
Sources:
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/coronavirus-pandemic/uae-covid-19-vaccine-83302-residents-vaccinated-in-24-hours
https://www.dha.gov.ae/Asset%20Library/COVID19/Covid19_Vaccine_EN.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/expect/after.html
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210114-covid-19-how-effective-is-a-single-vaccine-dose