In the past few weeks, many states have been opening vaccine eligibility to more and more Americans. A big reason for that is because we're ahead of schedule when it comes to available doses. That's great news when it comes to the fight against COVID-19 and being able to return to normal (eventually). But some people are feeling unpleasant side effects from their shots.
The good news is, those uncomfortable symptoms — like feeling tired, feverish, or having pain at the injection site — typically last only a couple of days. If you're a woman, the bad news is that you're far more likely to experience those side effects than if you're a man.
No, it's not because women are the weaker sex (cue muffled laughter). And it's not because women like to complain (cue more laughter). Give me a break. Ever heard of a man-cold? The reason is actually biological. Scientists say that women's bodies actually respond quite differently to the shot.
The majority of side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine have been reported by women. And it's not all in our heads! Same as PMS is definitely not all in our heads. Science backs the discomfort there, and it backs it again here. Thanks, science!
"We know that with vaccinations and infections, women tend to have a stronger immune response than men," Dr. Simone Wildes, a Boston-based infectious disease specialist, told Good Morning America. "That’s really driven by biological differences in males and females and the sex hormones." AHA! We're not crazy, after all.
It's hard to deny that the differences in how men and women may feel is pretty vast. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the first 13.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses given to Americans earlier this year, 79% of the reports of side effects were reported by women. Many of those symptoms were mild, like headache, dizziness, and fatigue. But some people have felt sidelined for several days.
Women's bodies are more likely to have those stronger responses. "When we get the COVID vaccine, we are introducing proteins into our body that are foreign and we’re teaching the cells to make the antibodies and the T-cells to help to fight the infection in case we’re exposed to it," Wildes said. "What happens in the female body is those cells create more protein than the male cells would."
While women might feel the effects of the vaccine more intensely, that just means it's because women's bodies have a stronger immune response. That's a good thing! It means our immune systems are working properly. And it means the vaccine is doing its job to keep us safe from COVID.
"When females get the vaccine, we’re going to complain of more side effects because our immune system is more revved up," Wildes explained. "We are able to produce more of the antibodies, the T-cells against this foreign material, the COVID-19 vaccine."
OK, OK. We're not trying to say that women's immune systems are better. But science might be.
Either way, those uncomfortable side effects really make us thankful for science. COVID-19 is no joke. We'll take the discomfort of the vaccine over the real thing any day.
