ATLANTA – We learn more about how our bodies respond to the COVID-19 vaccine.
While the majority of people have little reaction to their first shot, a select few become quite ill. And now we may know why.
The reason may be that your body is already familiar with this virus.
For Mike Christensen, 2021 has been a stormy start to the fight against the coronavirus.
“I started New Year’s Eve with symptoms. “I lost my taste and smell for a day, nausea, diarrhea, just about everything – fatigue,” Christensen said. “It really took me a long time.”
Forsyth County resident tells Channel 2’s Justin Wilfon that he finally recovered after a few weeks. But just last week, a familiar feeling came back.
“I woke up with a headache, fever, and I was like that for about 24 hours,” he said.
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Just a day earlier, Christensen had received his first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.
‘The highest my fever was 102.4. And the highest fever I had when I had COVID was 100.5. So it was a higher fever. It felt like I had COVID again, ”Christensen said.
According to a recent study conducted by the School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, this is a common phenomenon: first time people who have had the virus have side effects.
Wilfon met with dr. Mark Cohen, chief medical officer of Piedmont Hospital, talks about why this is happening.
“If your immune system sees something you’ve seen before, you’re all excited about it,” Cohen said. ‘So, the cellular response, the antibody response, arrives much faster, much more intense. And with that comes all the inflammatory activity that comes with it. ”
But Cohen also warned that the study included only a small group of people, saying more data needed to be collected before doctors could definitively link a strong initial response to previous exposure to the virus.
Either way, he said that possible symptoms caused by shots should not prevent anyone from getting the vaccine.
‘Tylenol, Ibuprofen is very effective in eliminating those within a day, a day and a half. It is very short, “said Cohen.
And even after his strong symptoms, Christensen said it would not stop him from getting his second shot later this month.
‘I would still advise people to get it. It was a minor inconvenience, “Christensen said.
The study also found that people who had the virus developed higher levels of antibodies after the first shot. So you may suffer a little more than those who did not have the virus, but you will walk away with a higher level of antibodies.