You probably know that there is a risk of developing minor side effects after receiving any of the COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use. But what you probably don’t know is that the data clearly shows that more women than men are reporting side effects from vaccines.
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A study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in late February analyzed data from the first month of administration of the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States and found a clear gender divide. People who received 13.7 million doses of the vaccine were encouraged to report any side effects they may experience through V-safe, the CDC’s post-vaccine health checker. Of the 6,994 people who actually reported side effects, 79.1% of them were women. And, it is worth noting, only 61.2% of those vaccinated were women.
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For your information: It is not necessarily a bad (or new) thing.
This does not appear to be an isolated case. Another study by CDC researchers that was published in JAMA in February, he found that all 19 people who experienced anaphylaxis due to a severe and potentially fatal allergic reaction after receiving the Modern vaccine were women. The same happened to 44 of the 47 people who had the reaction after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Interestingly, the evidence is there too: in a recent article to The New York TimesShelly Kendeffy, a 44-year-old medical technician at State College, Pennsylvania, shared that she and her colleagues – eight men and seven women – received their second dose of the Modern COVID-19 vaccine and had drastically different reactions. Six of the women would have had body aches, chills and fatigue; one was throwing up. Of the men, however, only four had very mild symptoms and four had no symptoms at all.
Although Kendeffy, who also experienced flu-like symptoms with the dose, felt better in 24 hours and “wouldn’t change anything”, he also says “he didn’t know what to expect”. Here’s what you need to know about why women may experience some worse side effects with the COVID-19 vaccine.
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First, here are the possible side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine
Although you can get the COVID-19 vaccine and have no side effects, there is a chance that you might feel something. If this happens to you, don’t freak out – the CDC says that the side effects are normal signs that your body is building protection against the virus, if you get in touch with it. Possible side effects include:
- Pain in the arm where you got the injection
- Redness around the area where you were vaccinated
- Swelling in the arm where you got the injection
- Tiredness
- Headache
- Muscle pain
- Chills
- Fever
- Nausea
The CDC study published in late February found that the most commonly reported symptoms were headache (22.4%), fatigue (16.5%) and dizziness (16.5%).
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So why can more women than men report the side effects of the vaccine?
It is difficult to say at this point. Although the survey found more women reporting side effects of the vaccine, nothing at this point has determined why this may be the case.
“I don’t think there is enough information to be able to draw any strong conclusions about why this may be occurring more in women than in men,” infectious disease specialist Amesh A. Adalja, MD, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Safety , account Health. It is entirely possible that women are more likely than men to report their symptoms, he says.
But while women are more likely to report symptoms, that is not the only thing that is happening, William Schaffner, MD, an infectious disease specialist and professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, says Health. Women have more autoimmune diseases than men and “it looks like it’s because their immune system is more reactive,” he says. Although Schaffner says the exact reason for this is unclear, he says that hormonal differences may be at stake. Estrogen “animates” the immune system, while testosterone seems to dampen it a little, he says.
“There is a real difference between the immune reactions between men and women,” says Dr. Schaffner. “We in the medical community do not study this as deeply as we should.”
Men and women also metabolize drugs in different ways, said female health specialist Jennifer Wider. “Clinical trials often do not take this difference into account and the dose of the vaccine may be higher for female recipients,” she says.
Antibody responses to vaccines may also be slightly higher in women than in men, says Dr. Wider, with research showing more differences with age. As a result, she says, the side effect response “may be more robust”.
There is also the following to consider: the phenomenon seems to happen with the flu vaccine as well. A 2013 study published in the journal Vaccine analyzed reports of side effects after the 2009 H1N1 vaccine and found that women between 20 and 59 years old reported much higher rates of allergic reactions than men, although more men than women received this vaccine. (Rates were the same for other age groups.)
And a 2019 study published in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology who analyzed cases of anaphylaxis after the 1990 and 2016 vaccination found that women accounted for 80% of all anaphylactic reactions to vaccines in adults.
In general, the link is “something that needs to be studied in more detail in order to be fully unraveled”, says Dr. Adalja. But it is also not terribly new. “This has been going on for years,” Fernando Rajeev, MD, an infectious disease specialist who works in field hospitals around the world, told Health Rajeev. “I would just tell women to be aware of that.”
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What to do if you have side effects with the COVID-19 vaccine
First of all, know that it is actually good to have side effects from the vaccine. “That means the vaccine is working,” Jamie Alan, PhD, an associate professor of pharmacology at Michigan State University, told Health.
Dr. Fernando also emphasizes that women – and everyone – should still get the vaccine whenever they can, regardless of the potential side effects. “It is very simple: vaccination saves lives,” he says. “The benefit of receiving the vaccine and not dying from COVID-19 far outweighs the risks.”
The CDC says it is okay to take OTC medications like ibuprofen, acetaminophen, aspirin or antihistamines, for any pain and discomfort you may experience after being vaccinated. But the CDC recommends not taking any of these drugs before you are vaccinated, noting at this point how it can affect how well vaccines work.
For arm pain, the CDC suggests placing a clean, fresh, damp towel over the area where you received the injection or trying to move your arm further. And, if you have a fever, the CDC says you should drink plenty of fluids and dress in light clothing.
If you develop serious side effects or are not getting relief from the above methods, Dr. Adalja recommends calling your doctor about the next steps.
The information in this story is accurate at the time of publication. However, as the situation around COVID-19 continues to evolve, it is possible that some data has changed since publication. While Health is trying to keep our stories as up-to-date as possible, we also encourage readers to stay informed about news and recommendations for their own communities using the CDC, WHO, and your local public health department as resources.
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