By now, you know that side effects occur with the area if you get the COVID vaccine. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most of these reactions to the COVID vaccine are normal signs that your body is building up immunity to the virus. But while it is rare, you may also experience an allergic reaction to the vaccine, which you should not ignore. The CDC says there are various symptoms that could mean you have some form of allergic reaction to the vaccine.
Javeed Siddiqui, MD, chief medical officer at TeleMed2U, says patients with vaccine-related reactions should try to determine if the “symptoms and timing of their reaction [is] consistent with a true allergic reaction. “Of course you should consult your doctor if you are insured. But to prepare, read on for some signs that you have an allergic reaction to the COVID vaccine, according to the CDC: and if you are over 65, you should not getting this new vaccine, experts warn.
According to the CDC, there are two different types of allergic reactions to the COVID vaccine: severe and non-severe. In the case of the latter, symptoms such as hives, swelling and wheezing may occur up to four hours after vaccination. However, swelling at the injection site is also a normal side effect of the vaccine, so you may not experience an allergic reaction if you do not also have hives and are not squeaking.
Spencer Kroll, MD, a specialist in internal medicine at The Kroll Medical Group, says that if your symptoms are reduced after using antihistamines, you probably is experienced an allergic reaction to the vaccine. And for more information on vaccine reactions, you are more likely to have side effects from vaccines if you did.
The CDC says that serious, life-threatening allergic reactions, also known as anaphylaxis, to the COVID vaccine are rare but possible. According to the CDC, anaphylaxis can target four systems of your body: respiratory, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and mucous (skin). Respiratory symptoms of a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine may include the feeling of tightness of the throat, a loud noise during breathing, shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing.
Anaphylaxis can also include gastrointestinal symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
Unfortunately, this can be a sign that your situation has gotten worse. According to the health care website Ada, “If anaphylaxis quickly transitions to its worse form, anaphylactic shock may include other symptoms … stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting.” And subscribe to our daily newsletter for more up-to-date COVID news delivered directly to your inbox.
In terms of cardiovascular symptoms that occur in patients with anaphylaxis, you may experience dizziness, fainting, abnormally fast heartbeat, and abnormally low blood pressure.
Anaphylaxis can look like hives, itching and swelling of your lips, face and throat on your skin. And for more nerve-racking reactions, this is the rare COVID vaccine side effect that doctors want you to be prepared for.
It can take up to four hours to have a non-severe allergic reaction. But if you have a more immediate severe allergic reaction to the COVID vaccine, the CDC says that your symptoms will usually appear within 15 minutes of your shot.
Unfortunately, early symptoms of anaphylaxis can occur as a non-severe allergic reaction, making it ‘often difficult to predict whether initial, mild symptoms will become an anaphylactic reaction,’ the CDC says. This is why the agency recommends that someone with a history of immediate allergic reactions to previous vaccinations or injectable therapy or someone with a history of anaphylaxis for any cause be monitored 30 minutes after their vaccination – longer than the recommended 15 minutes for everyone else.
Non-severe allergic reactions should still be taken as seriously as severe allergic reactions, the CDC says. Currently, both vaccinations are administered in the US in two doses, but an allergic reaction to the first dose may indicate that a worse reaction may occur if a second dose is administered. If you experience any kind of allergic reaction after receiving the first dose of the vaccine, do not take the second dose, warns the CDC. And for more information from the leading health agency, says dr. Fauci, the CDC may soon change this great mask.