Why Feeling Bad After Covid Vaccine Jab Could Be Good

As Covid-19 vaccines are rolled out across the world, a growing band of recipients are complaining of being flattened by side effects, especially after a second dose. Recipients describe symptoms from fever to fatigue that are more profound than the jolt some get from a seasonal flu shot. Although the post-vaccination malaise is generally innocuous and fades after a day or two, some hospitals and medical centers are staggering immunizations of health workers to avoid a brief cluster of absenteeism.

Typical symptoms include a sore arm, usually localized to the area the inoculation was given, and systemic symptoms, such as a mild fever or elevated temperature, headache and muscle aches. Some studies have found that younger adults report localized and systemic reactions more frequently than people over 65 years old. A type of skin eruption, known as a morbilliform rash, was described in a 30-year-old male health-care worker two days after his second jab. The rash, which covered most of his back, resolved on its own after a day.