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Doctor Mike Hansen - I got the COVID Vaccine - This is how I feel

Thumbnail of the video “Doctor Mike Hansen - I got the COVID Vaccine - This is how I feel”
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Short Summary

Main recommendation: The speaker shares his personal experience getting the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, including plans for a second dose about three weeks after the first, noting his side effects were mild and that he understands the main exclusion group to be people with a history of allergic reaction to a vaccine component. The speaker, an ICU doctor aged 40, reports that the first dose felt like a typical flu shot with only mild arm soreness.

Key Points

  • The first Pfizer dose caused only mild arm soreness, which was worst about 12 hours after the shot and improved by the following day.
  • The second dose is scheduled exactly three weeks after the first, about 19 days later, and the speaker notes that immune-related symptoms are more likely after the second dose and in younger people.
  • The speaker addresses a reported allergic reaction in an Alaska health care worker, who had no prior history of vaccine allergies, and states that the doctors described her as doing fine.
  • As an ICU doctor, the speaker says the key concern with allergic reactions is anaphylaxis with airway swelling, which was not the case for the Alaska worker.
  • The vaccination session included a 20-minute observation period for allergic reactions, with social distancing, masks, and music played in the room.

Details Worth Noting

  • Concrete instructions: Get the second dose exactly three weeks after the first dose, and the speaker says that, as far as he knows, the one group excluded from the Pfizer vaccine in the United States is people who've had an allergic reaction to any component of it. Expect to stay for a 20-minute observation period after the shot to watch for allergic reactions, and wear a mask and keep social distance while waiting.
  • The speaker says the allergic-reaction concern in the Alaska case was about anaphylaxis and airway swelling, which would require a breathing tube, and that this was not the case there.
  • The speaker is 40 years old and says he's heard that post-vaccine immune symptoms are more likely in younger people, so he's curious how he'll react.
  • The speaker describes the vaccination as well organized, with health care workers in a large auditorium and music playing overhead.
  • The speaker reports the first-dose arm soreness was not severe even at its worst.

Bottom Line

Based on the speaker's own experience as an ICU doctor, the Pfizer vaccine caused mild, short-lived side effects after the first dose, and the main safety exclusion is a prior allergic reaction to a vaccine component.