Thanks to Rasmus Braun, who fixed it!
Well there you go…it’s changed now.
Email? I guess I turned off those options long ago. The only emails I get are if I’ve received a pm.
To the OP: I had second Maderna 2 weeks ago. Was a little tired the next day, took a nap. No noticeable side effects, hearing or otherwise. My thinking: simple matter of risk/reward like any other medical procedure.
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You make this point Jim Lewis, in your response to david3, but for others following along, I think it should actually be stated more forcefully:
Sucharit Bhakdi begins his interview by citing his scientific training and academic career as proof of his authority to speak on Coronavirus issues. However, The academic institutions where he worked have each dissociated themselves from his non-data based, non-science based claims. Therefore, it’s not reasonable for him to claim his former employment as proof of his credibility when the people for whom he used to work claim that his claims themselves are unscientific and not-credible.
There remain many things we do not understand about the behavior of this virus in different populations. For example, there is NOT a precise or even rough correlation between the attitudes taken toward the virus and the severity of the epidemic in different countries. For example, two countries with far less elaborate resources than the US or Western Europe (India and Nigeria)have reported remarkably less illness and death from it, and the reasons for that are not understood.
However, the attitudes of the institutions to which Sucharit Bhakdi points with pride as the endorsement of his pronouncements make it abundantly clear that the his claims are grossly divergent from scientific data and should NOT be given ANY credence whatsoever.
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Good discussion in plain simple language of “Can vaccinated people still spread the coronavirus?”:
Can vaccinated people still spread the coronavirus? – The Denver Post
i.e., you’ve been vaccinated, you go to your audi or other HCP, you should still take the usual precautions… ~no virus = ~no masks…
Edit_Update: the author of the Denver Post article is an expert who works on coronavirus vaccines… Dr. Deborah Fuller, Professor of Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of Washington
I learned a long time ago don’t ask the question on here if you aren’t going to accept the answers you get.
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MDB I don’t underestimate the flu, but the number of people who die from it these days is a drop in the bucket compared to the half million dead from COVID-19.
Personally I think everybody who is a candidate for vaccination should volunteer to get it. It’s the civilized thing to do. In civilized countries, people look out for the greater good of the society.
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I have not. Did you read something?
I had the “Oxford” vaccine first dose about 6 weeks ago, since then FWIW my hearing in both ears has got immeasurably better and currently I can hear on the telephone or TV (via iPad) without my aids, though better with them. I don’t ascribe this to the vaccine though as I have had previous similar ups & downs with my hearing & tinnitus.
I have had annual flu jabs for years and many other vaccinations since 1936 
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Hi Jim,
What is the efficacy of 1 shot of Moderna? Have read 2 different comments. I decided to not take the 2nd as I could not find any info on using RX Methotrexate for 35 years. My PC and Rheumy were unable to provide me with any scientific evidence regarding my fears of causation with MTX which slows down your immune system. All they would say is “just get it.”
How long can one wait between shots? Will be back from Vacation on Apr 14. 1st on Feb 14. I was originally scared when this vaccine came so quickly but most of you have alleviated my fears. Need more confirmation from my Drs. Their answers may not change from original.
@anihan I’m also on MTX, and have been for 30 yrs. I’m also on 3 other autoimmune drugs as well. My Rheumy told me to stop taking MTX and Humira for 2 doses of MTX and 1 dose of Humira after having the vaccine. He also told me if I waited 8 weeks after the first Covid vaccination before having the 2nd one I would have a better uptake of Antibodies.
Hi Piper,
Had no idea you also had RA. MTX has been a miracle drug for me. Before that I was in terrible shape. I also take 2.5 mg Pred ever day.
If your doctor told you to wait eight weeks before the second vaccine I am going to call my doctor tomorrow and ask the same thing. The Independent Living where I live now had free vaccines for all of us. Maybe I will have to pay but I don’t care.
Did your doctor research to see how the vaccine would affect you? I hope so. Looks like your hands are not affected. mine are horribly crippled because they got that way before I was able to get MTX. So thankful to God for it.
Let me know if you have any after effects, OK?
Anita
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I don’t think we are as altruistic as you believe. People are getting the vaccine to protect themselves. Did you get vaccinated to protect others or yourself?
As a former Floridian I think your understanding is a bit wrongheaded.
Hi anihan I found this website an interesting read. You might be interested in perusing the whole website.
I’m glad to see some other forum members offering you advice. I think the best thing to do would be to consult with your physicians, particularly your rheumatologist, since they would be most familiar with your medical situation and medical history and hopefully up on the latest news on dealing with patients with immune/autoimmune problems and be able to best integrate the latest vaccine protection information with knowledge of your medical situation.
One of my sisters has MS - but is not on methotrexate. She had a significant reaction to her first Moderna shot and lamented all of her friends (many of whom have MS, too, from her joining local social groups of MS patients) all had the Pfizer and had no significant reactions to both shots of the Pfizer. Yet she values the protective effect of the vaccine, both doses, and has declared she’s going to be sure to get her 2nd dose, too, but confided that she thinks she’ll take a Benadryl before the 2nd dose but will be off any NSAIDs, etc.
So I think it’s just like which HA’s are best. There are trends and preferences but we’re all individuals medically. Advice is best from those attuned to your precise medical situation and history. But just like HA’s, there’s no guarantee either that even tailored advice is always going to turn out the way you want. But maybe like my sister is aiming for, more guarantee on surviving, especially with variants continuing to pop up, means enduring discomfort, maybe even some pain, might be well worth the extra protection one hopes to get from the 2nd shot.
The billions of people in third world underdeveloped countries, if left unprotected, are going to be a breeding ground for the virus to evolve on into the future. So the worst possible case is that the world goes into perpetual pandemic mode and booster shots might need to be coming along and advisable every few years to better one’s chances to staying on the planet, unfortunately. We are getting schooled in biology firsthand. The bigger the world’s population the more chance for something very unlikely to pop up. In probability, it’s called EXPECTED NUMBERS.
World’s population goes to 10 billion.
Only 1 chance in 10 billion per year per “bioreactor” (person) for a terrible biohazard to arise each year.
10 billion people x 1/10 billion chance per person per year = 1 nasty biohazard arising per year.
If you make the chance even rarer, 1/100 billion, the bad stuff still likely to happen once every 10 years, etc., (1 in a trillion, every 100 years). So in a world with a very large relatively well-connected population via air travel, etc., it’s a different world as far as disease goes than it was a 100 years ago, especially with the human population as a breeding ground growing ever larger.
P.S.
On Spaceship Earth, the best chance of squelching things like the pandemic is for folks not only to think of themselves but also of others, e.g., do we also work to vaccinate poor people in other countries (expensive!) or do we just relax comfy that we protected ourselves (for now)??? When the next (even more lethal?) variant comes along, we may regret that we didn’t think more about protecting everyone to avoid a boomerang effect if the virus comes back to haunt us in an even worse form. So now, even if one is a 20-something unlikely to get a serious case of COVID, getting vaccinated to avoid being a bioreactor and further spreading the disease to others is a way, down the line, to also act in one’s best long-term interests. (Same for wearing a mask after being vaccinated if you’re basically protected against serious infection but still can asymptomatically transmit virus to others). Maybe lots of times acting in the best interests of others is also acting in your own best interests for long-term survival. Maybe modern humans survived and supplanted Neanderthals because we were more effective in acting as an organized group whereas Neanderthals were every man and woman and child for themselves (not specifically true - but have read that primitive humans formed much larger social groups compared to Neanderthals).
*AND: (apropos of original question posed)
Schaffner stresses that people shouldn’t look at these findings and assume they don’t need a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. “Don’t try to slice this salami too thin,” he says. “I do think we need that second dose in order to get maximum protection.” Schaffner points out that people get “much more antibodies” against SARS-CoV-2 with the second dose, as well as “more complete protection” that can help against variants of the virus.
Dr. Thomas Russo, professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York, agrees. “I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to get the second dose,” he tells Yahoo Life. Russo points out that some people are nervous about getting the second dose after hearing that side effects can be worse afterward, but he says that many stories about the side effects have “a little bit of embellishment.”
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Thank you for that article. Can’t remember if that was the one from CMAA. Even the experts are not able to determine what the spacing between first and second second shots are. But I am going to go for my second shot when I come back from my vacation on April 17. So I should be OK but did you understand that we are not getting the efficacy as people without RA have?. I am sorry I could not reply to you after I read the article because it took me to a new page to have to sign into Hearing tracker again.
I am on my fifth day of vertigo so I am still rather loopy. Need to be over it to fly out on Sunday.
I am going to call my Rheumi’s office today to see if he has read that excellent article. Seems there is a difference of opinion and length of time between first and second vaccine.
Be well, Anita
Really? A vaccination isn’t going to actually give you hearing loss, despite maybe feeling like it has shortly after a shot.
This is just fear mongering. GET YOUR VACCINATIONS!
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@Straight_Aids obviously you don’t know very much about the immune system. As sometimes it’s just not as simple as telling someone to go get your vaccination. When your on MTX which is a carcinogenic drug which knocks out your immune system to start with. Therefore if your immune system isn’t working, just going and getting the vaccination isn’t going to give you immunity to Covid.
WE HAVE TO PLAN THIS IN ADVANCE, by stop taking these drugs, and not taking them for a few weeks after the vaccination as well. Just so the vaccination can give us some immunity to Covid. By doing this we run the risk of having a NASTY FLARE OF OUR DISEASE, which could put us in hospital.
I think you were extremely rude for yelling at @anihan.
@Deaf_piper Get off your high horse, I never “yelled at” anyone. Yet nothing in your post has anything to do with hearing loss after vaccination, rather other medications that could interfere. OBVIOUSLY in that case you have to plan it out with your doctor.
You ok over there?
I just had my second dose of the Moderna vaccine this past Saturday, 3/27. The second shot was scheduled at the time I got the 1st for exactly 4 weeks later, and the tech who gave me the shot said, “There’s only a 4-day window.” Other things I’ve read make it sound like you have more leeway, but I’d want advice from a doctor before deciding to wait longer.
Anyway, I got a sore arm from the 1st shot, a sore arm and definitely fatigue starting about 30 hours after the 2nd shot (I slept more than 12 hours). I think I also may have had some sore muscles about then, but I’m not sure because that morning I walked the dog over muddy pasture, slipped, and went down on my knees hard enough to make me sore the next day anyway.
After the long sleep, I woke and felt fine. The knee I went down on the hardest is still sore, but that’s obviously from the fall. No effect on my hearing that I can tell.
I jumped on the first opportunity I could find to get the vaccine, and yes, the reason is me. I’m in the most vulnerable age group and sick of worrying about it, sick of restrictions. I felt willing to take the chance of being damn miserable for a few days rather than keep living like this. I admit if I were in my 20s, 30s, or even 40s my attitude might be quite different, and I don’t think anyone owes it to me to do something they don’t feel is right for them.
From what I’ve read, the first shot of both Pfizer and Moderna is something like 70-80% effective and for who knows how long. IMO getting that up to over 90% effective was well worth a sore arm and a long sleep.
For what’s it’s anecdotally worth, a 77-year-old cousin of mine had no reaction whatsoever to either his 1st or 2nd Pfizer shot. His wife, in her 60’s, had no reaction to the first Moderna. Her 2d is still two weeks away. Reports in another forum I’m in make it sound like those who have considerable reaction are far fewer than those who have none or nothing worse than I did. Of course what happened for me is totally irrelevant to what will happen for thee.