DETROIT – A new and important program is helping the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Drug and Food Administration identify any adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine as quickly as possible.
Local 4′s Dr. Frank McGeorge recalled his experience of getting the Pfizer vaccine recently and continued to offer suggestions Monday.
Speaking about the experience with the COVID-19 vaccine McGeorge said:
”The last time I was on air Thursday night I had received the vaccine about three hours before and I was feeling fine. Then about two hours later, five hours after the shot, I felt like my arm was hit by a hammer and that lasted about a day. I didn’t have any other side effects so from my experience I would just say don’t plan on any heavy lifting for a day.”
No matter which vaccine you receive, the Pfizer or Moderna one, everyone who receives a vaccination should sign up with the CDC’s after vaccination health checker V-safe, McGeorge suggested.
It’s a smartphone based tool that sends you a text message when it’s time to check in and report any symptoms or side effects. They ask for your name, phone number, date of birth, gender and zip code.
Once a day for the first week you’ll get a daily reminder link that takes you to a page where you can report any symptoms. After the first week you’ll get a text once a week for five weeks.
According to the CDC, as of 1 p.m. Sunday 556,208 doses of the vaccine had been administered. Well over 10 times the number of people in the original Pfizer trial, making this the best opportunity to quickly spot any new problems.
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