A salute to Sara

By Alex P. Vidal

“Misinformation or distrust of vaccines can be like a contagion that can spread as fast as measles.”—Theresa Tam

A STRANGE fever hit me hours after I took my COVID-19 Pfizer-BioNtech booster shot from Walgreens in Jackson Heights, Queens on Monday (November 15).

I initially refused to believe it had something to do with the booster shot since I was among the only few in New York who didn’t have any side effects when I took my first two Pfizer primary doses respectively on April 19 and May 17 this year also in Queens.

But when the fever came simultaneously with a pain on the right arm where I got the shot, I became convinced Pfizer-BioNtech was the culprit of the twin juggernauts.

Both the slight fever and pain on the right arm had been nipped in the bud by two Tylenol and one Advil capsules in two days.

Side effects after the second shot may be more intense than the ones experienced after the first shot.

These side effects are reportedly normal signs that the body is building protection and should go away within a few days.

Reactions reported after getting a booster shot were reportedly similar to those after the two-dose or single-dose primary series.

Fever, headache, fatigue and pain at the injection site were the most commonly reported side effects, and overall, most side effects were mild to moderate. However, as with the two-dose or single-dose primary series, serious side effects are reportedly rare, but may occur.

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Booster shots can be a normal part of the vaccination process when it comes to getting a vaccine to protect ourselves against a disease like COVID-19

“Booster” basically refers to an extra dose of a vaccine after the original (or primary) dose has been administered.

These boosters can be weeks, months or years later, according to Sandy Salverson, PharmD, vice president of Pharmacy Operations at OSF HealthCare.

“Most adults have a memory of having to get a booster for a childhood disease, such as measles, whooping cough or meningitis. Or for a disease like tetanus, where booster shots are recommended every 10 years as the original immunity wanes,” Salverson said.

Some vaccines are reportedly administered using the strategy of giving the original (or primary) dose along with a booster dose.

With the original dose, the immune system is primed to recognize and produce antibodies against the virus it was created to defend.

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Booster shots are reportedly administered to remind the body’s immune system about the virus it needs to defend against. This improves or gives the immune system a boost.

It’s recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that moderately to severely immunocompromised individuals who received the two-dose series of either Pfizer or Moderna get a third dose of the vaccine 28 days after receiving their second dose.

What’s the difference between a third dose and a booster shot? “A booster is given when a person has completed their vaccine series and the immunity protection against the virus begins to decrease with time, as data has shown,” Salverson said. “The third dose is strictly to improve the immunity response of those moderately to severely immunocompromised individuals and becomes part of their primary series.”

She explained that these individuals are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 and are more at risk of serious, prolonged illness. Their level of immunity following the two original doses of the vaccine is lower than people who are not immunocompromised.

Salverson added: “This isn’t because the vaccine isn’t effective. It’s because the immune systems of these individuals need the additional dose as part of their primary series to reach the level of immunity that best protects them from severe illness or hospitalization.”

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I salute Sara Duterte-Carpio for standing up against her unpredictable and arrogant father, who got pissed off after she didn’t file her Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for president.

The father, a suspected hedonist, was again caught lying through his teeth.

Several months ago, he ranted against rumors that his daughter, who is mayor of Davao City, would run for president.

The presidency is not for women, argued the hubristic father, who discouraged his daughter from seeing the highest office of the land.

When Mrs. Duterte-Carpio filed her COC for vice president, the angry man became angrier and nearly ran berserk.

He wanted his daughter to run for president because, according to him, she was ahead in the surveys. He even threatened to run for vice president against her only to change his mind and filed his COC for senator in the eleventh hour.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)