Your Covid-19 vaccine questions, answered

With so much information and misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines, we, at Tia, want to help our community understand to help you understand *wtf* is really going on. We’re doing exactly that with regular drops of THE DOSE, your science-backed guide to all things Covid-19 vaccines.

THE DOSE is brought to you by geneticist and evolutionary biologist, Dr. Ava Mainieri, Head of Research at Tia.

So, why do I need 2 doses?

Getting 2 doses of the vaccine gives your immune system more opportunities to figure out exactly how to fight future infection. This means...

• more antibodies
• a robust supply of memory cells
• more antigens

...leading to a faster and more effective response in the future.

Can I just get one shot instead of 2?

Nope! Pfizer’s data showed a dramatic divergence in efficacy:

What are the short-term side effects?

A small percentage of patients who’ve received the vaccine have experienced...

• high fevers
• arm swelling
• joint pain
• fatigue

These side-effects are normal. On a larger scale, when a whole country is vaccinated, millions of people will experience some, or all, of these symptoms.

Other common reactions include:

• soreness, swelling, or redness at the injection site
• headache
• nausea
• muscle stiffness & aches

These effects are just what happens when your body is responding to a foreign protein and building an immune response to the disease — this is a good thing!

What about allergic reactions?

Should I get the vaccine if I’ve had Covid?

Yes! Early data strongly suggests that the mRNA vaccines will be more protective than protections from a previous infection.

What are the long-term side effects?

There is limited information on long-term side effects yet but based on a long history of vaccines. It is unlikely that there will be long-term negative effects.

Clinical trials catch all but the rarest adverse events, which will be caught by postmarketing surveillance. These events are rare and do not represent and do not represent a good reason to avoid a vaccine, especially amidst a pandemic.

THE DOSE is your science-backed guide to Covid-19 vaccines, from Tia. In service of science-backed public health, share THE DOSE with a friend!