ABC6: OhioHealth Physician Gives Inside Look At Second Covid-19 Vaccine

With the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19, there is a first, and then 28 or 21 days later, a second dose.

Joe Gastaldo, MD, OhioHealth infectious diseases medical director, has now received both doses of the vaccine. He says the second dose did have a little different impact on him than the first.

“Initially when I received the vaccine I felt fine, but when I did go home, to be completely transparent, I kind of did feel off-kilter,” Gastaldo told ABC6 said. He says he had a small headache. “I went to bed and at about four in the morning I actually woke up with shaking chills. I took my temperature, and it was mildly elevated in the 100 range,” Gastaldo said to ABC6.

Dr. Gastaldo has long said that the impact can vary from person to person. He adds that while the impact on people with severe reactions is very small, there could be others who deal with lesser impacts. “What my body is doing is mounting a very good immune response to the spike proteins, so in the setting that my body does encounter this very contagious coronavirus, I’m all prepared to start battling and preventing me from getting sick, because my immune system has been primed,” Gastaldo said.

Dr. Gastaldo points to a newer CDC mechanism in place to track what is happening to people after their first and second vaccine doses. “So when I got my questionnaire from the V-Safe app, it actually said, ‘Hey, how are you feeling today? Do you have any issues with a headache, myalgia, muscle pain, or low-grade fever, or fatigue, and I answered yes to all of those questions. We need to gather that data,” Gastaldo said.

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