HAMPTON ROADS, Va. - How will the COVID-19 vaccine make you feel when you get the shot? Some may experience harsher side effects than others. The CDC wants you to report any side effects you experience from the vaccine.
Over the past few weeks, News 3 has shown you healthcare workers, frontline workers and politicians getting the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as the country waits with anticipation for more to become available.
“I'm hoping that we can get through this as fast as possible. Let's get the herd immunity up there as fast as possible,” said Dr. Ryan Light with Tidewater Multispecialty Physicians Group.
Last week hundreds of EMS and fire department personnel were vaccinated during a drive through event in Virginia Beach. More people are expected to be vaccinated next week in Hampton Roads.
People are excited by the idea of a vaccine, but some will experience side effects from the vaccine. The CDC reports the most common are fever, chills, headache and tiredness.
Officials with the CDC say they want to gather information directly from the public, so they have created V-Safe which is a smartphone-based tool that uses text messaging and web surveys to provide personalized health check-ins after you receive a COVID-19 vaccination.
“Technology in the last 20 years has exponentially gotten better, so I'm glad that they've got apps and made it really easy for people to report their side effects,” said Dr. Light.
They said after a person gets vaccinated, they will get information about how they can use their smartphone to log on and report side effects.
“There's a billion of us on this planet and we're all unique and we don't know how everybody's going to tolerate it,” said Dr. Light, “But as we get more and more demographic information … age, sex, and race, we will be able to build better advice of what side effects they may experience from the vaccine.”
Health officials say depending on your answers, someone from CDC may call to check on you and get more information.
Dr. Light said the importance of getting the vaccine outweighs side effects.
“I think 2021 will be much brighter than 2020, obviously the vaccines are our inspiration to get through this,” said Dr. Light.
For more information from the CDC, visit here.
