Women seem to have more side effects after vaccination than men.
A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published in February, examined the Pfizer-BioNTech and Modern vaccines and found that 79 percent of the side effects reported to the agency came from women. , although only 61 percent of the vaccines were administered to women.
It may be that women are more likely to report side effects than men, said Dr. Sabra L. Klein, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Or, she added, women may experience side effects to a greater extent. “We’m not sure what it is,” she said.
If women actually have more side effects than men, there may be a biological explanation: women and girls can produce up to twice as many antibodies after receiving flu shots and vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and hepatitis A and B. has. , probably due to a mixture of factors, including reproductive hormones and genetic differences.
A study found that women make up nearly 80 percent of all allergic reactions to adult vaccines for nearly three decades. Similarly, the CDC reported that most anaphylactic reactions to Covid-19 vaccines occurred among women.
And in a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine describing the experiences of people with redness, itching and swelling that began four to 11 days after the first shot of the Moderna vaccine, ten of the 12 patients were women. However, it is not clear whether women are more prone to the problem.
If you have mild side effects like headaches or low fever, this is actually a good thing, said dr. Small said, because it means your immune system is on the rise. However, a lack of side effects does not mean that the vaccine does not work.
You can share your symptoms or concerns through the CD-V Safe app, which records symptoms and provides health examinations after vaccinations. Medically important reports sent with V-safe will be followed by a call from a representative.