5 Things You May Not Know About The Coronavirus Vaccine

Did you get a strange rash after getting the coronavirus vaccine? Can you take Advil after getting the shot?

The Centers for Disease Control acknowledges there is still much to be learned about the emergency-use vaccines as they are rolled out to the public, as they say on their site: "The CDC will continue to provide updates as we learn more about the safety of the vaccine in real-world conditions."

As of now, the CDC has addressed some of the public's biggest questions about getting the shot. Here is the latest science you need to know:

1. Yes, you can take pain relievers like Advil or Tylenol after getting the vaccine (but not before).

It is normal to feel whole-body aches, mild fever, fatigue and pain at the injection site after getting the vaccine. In fact, this is a sign your body is mounting an appropriate immune response. And it is fine to take over-the-counter pain medicine, such as Tylenol or Advil, after getting either the first or second dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

However, what you don't want to do is take painkillers before you get your shot, which some people have been doing to decrease symptoms. The CDC actually updated their guidance on this to say that taking pain meds before the shot is specifically not recommended, because medicine such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen reduce inflammation. Your body is supposed to have a normal inflammatory reaction to the vaccine, say researchers.

"It is not recommended you take over-the-counter medicine, such as ibuprofen, aspirin, or acetaminophen, before vaccination for the purpose of trying to prevent vaccine-related side effects," said the CDC in this advisory. "It is not known how these medications may affect how well the vaccine works."

2. Women should avoid getting mammograms close to their vaccine dates.

It is also normal for the vaccine to cause swelling of the lymph nodes, particularly in the same arm where the shot was given.

However earlier this year, doctors giving women mammograms noticed this lymph node swelling, which can be mistake for a sign of breast cancer. "Again and again, women reported that they had been vaccinated in the weeks prior to their abnormal mammograms," said Dr. Christine Edmonds, a breast radiologist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in this Penn Medicine article.

In February, the Society of Breast Imaging began advising women to either schedule their mammogram before getting their first vaccine shot, or at least four weeks after the second vaccine dose. "This reduces the chance that swollen lymph nodes from the vaccine will appear on your mammogram," said the Society of Breast Imaging in this public service announcement.

Also, don't get any other vaccines, such as shingles or the flu shot, within 14 days of getting the COVID vaccine.

3. Your reaction will likely be worse after the second shot. And women report stronger side effects than men.

For those who are getting the two-shot Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, side effects will likely be more intense after your second shot.

"Side effects (such as fever, chills, tiredness, and headache) throughout the body were more common after the second dose," according to the CDC. "These side effects are normal signs that your body is building protection and should go away within a few days."

Also, women have reported stronger side effects than men, according to this Feb. 19 study from the CDC.

4. Look out for unexpected side effects like diarrhea and skin rashes.

Tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, fever and nausea are all normal and expected side effects. Vomiting and diarrhea have been reported, but the CDC classifies them as "exceptional" side effects.

Also, as more of the public gets the shot, doctors are also seeing skin rashes in some.

Doctors reported seeing red, itchy and sometimes painful skin rashes occurring in some patients after getting the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer/Moderna). The skin rash occurred in 244 of the 30,420 participants (0.8 percent) after the first dose and in 68 participants (0.2 percent) after the second dose, according to this study doctors submitted to the New England Journal of Medicine.

The rash is classified as a "delayed injection-site reaction" because it occurred up to eight days after the vaccine was given, according to the study, whereas other expected side effects will be felt within 72 hours, said the CDC.

The rashes usually went away with four to five days.

Anaphylactic reactions have also been reported: "Reporting rates for anaphylaxis in the U.S. were 11.1 cases per million doses administered of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (December 14-23, 2020) and 2.5 cases per million doses administered of the Moderna vaccine (December 21, 2020-January 10, 2021)," according to this Feb. 12 report in the Journal of American Medicine.

5. You can still get coronavirus even after getting the vaccine (but it keeps you out of the hospital).

And the kicker. Yes, it is possible. This week, three people who had been fully vaccinated in Hawaii were diagnosed with the virus, the Hawaii Department of Health confirmed to a local news station.

However, none of those four became seriously ill. The CDC has long said that you can still get coronavirus after being vaccinated, but the vaccines reduce the risk of serious illness and hospitalization. In fact, people even contracted coronavirus after getting their shot during the Johnson & Johnson trials, according to the CDC. But they did not have to be hospitalized.

"The vaccine had high efficacy at preventing hospitalization and death in people who did get sick," said the CDC. "No one who got COVID-19 at least four weeks after receiving the J&J/Janssen vaccine had to be hospitalized."

The Hawaii residents received either the Monderna or Pfizer shots, according to KITV news. Here is the effectiveness breakdown from the CDC each of the three vaccines available on the U.S. market:

• The Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine was 66.3 percent effective at preventing laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 illness in people who had no evidence of prior infection 2 weeks after receiving the vaccine. People had the most protection 2 weeks after getting vaccinated.
• The Moderna vaccine was 94.1 percent effective in people who received two doses who had no evidence of being previously infected.
• The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 95 percent effective at preventing laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 illness in people without evidence of previous infection.

Additionally, some with long-haul COVID symptoms are actually reporting their symptoms are going away after being vaccinated, according to the Washington Post.

Are you noticing any unusual symptoms after getting the vaccine, or want to talk about vaccine side effects? Email Patch reporter carly.baldwin@patch.com