i was tiered in the morning and got more lethargic during the day, night no energy .
No bad affects at all from my second AZ shot, in fact first one wasn’t as bad as some i know.
i always keep some of the sports drinks around for the few days after (not the energy drinks), but if you have a relaxed day looks like you should be fine.
All three shots, I’ve been told to wait for 15-20 minutes. Yesterday they wrote down the time I could leave on a piece of paper - a small but useful touch. There’s certainly no enforcement - I’m sure I could have walked out.
@Shaun008: oops! I should have read more carefully. Perhaps I’d better get some work done now, in case I have similar issues later in the day.
Clinic or hospital?
All three in hospitals.
But to me it’s just common sense as well. Sit around and wait a few minutes to make sure nothing weird is happening.
Hi,
Can anyone give me the cliff notes version of applying for a booster? Can I go to get one now or is this an eligibility thing?
5 months since 2nd shot?
Yes → yes you can get Booster
No → wait till 5 months passed
My dad was told to wait in the car for 15 mins after his first one. I was like how would they know if you had a reaction?
Signed up for my booster in NTU next week. It appears the only option is Moderna, anyone see different? My first 2 were AZ.
BOOSTED GUY HERE…is what I would’ve originally said had things gone as planned.
Went to the hospital that I made an appointment at. After going to report in the lady looked at me and said we don’t do any boosters today… I showed her my online appointment that I made on their hospital website and she called over a nurse who was just as confused and she started calling some other people…while I was waiting they were talking about how I was the 4th/5th person this afternoon that came in for a booster and another older lady in the same situation as me came to report in right after me and I explained to her we got the same problem so we’re probably SOL.
Hopefully they called the other people that were booked for the afternoon so they don’t waste their time like I did…
It was fully booked too.
Anyways the system was (apparently??) mistakenly open for afternoon booster appointments even though they had no Moderna in the afternoon.
Needless to say I’m not exactly happy at the moment as I had made plans for everything with the fact that I would get a shot today and could have a full day of rest tomorrow. Unfortunately it seems like no other place is open today from what I’ve checked so going to try and scramble to get something tomorrow (maybe go to a different city if I have to) and just bite the bullet on Wednesday if I feel like garbage.
Name and shame!
林新/Lin Xin/Lin Shin Hospital in Taichung, near Ikea. I was hoping to get BOOSTED then enjoy some Swedish meatballs afterwards.
Most importantly I want to say that the staff I dealt with were helpful and nice in terms of getting my registration set up at the hospital (first time there) and trying to figure what the heck was going on.
They told me they would contact me later for a different date/appointment but I’m still trying to get something for tomorrow if I can, but given the short notice there’s not really anything available for the next few days and Thursday/Friday getting the booster would be…at the bottom of my list since the following days I have quite a few commitments to take care of.
EDIT: Somehow was able to get an appointment for tomorrow morning at a small hospital. A little out of the way but the staff on the phone was super nice and patient with me and got me all set up pretty quick considering I had just registered online just a few minutes prior and called in just to make sure I was properly registered into their system.
System worked for me:
Moderna booster is SOP in Taiwan now—you will not be alone. It will be administered at half dose as per the manufacturer’s specifications.
Viral vector plus mRNA provides really good protection, at least according to what we’ve seen in places like Canada which mixed-and-matched early and often. If I were you, I’d just go for it.
Guy
That’s not really correct, AFAIK. It’s only the manufacturer’s specifications for people who originally received two full doses of the Moderna vaccine. (The revised EUA request for the half dose also only covers three specific groups, namely, people over 65, people aged 18-64 at high risk of severe COVID-19, and people aged 18-64 at high risk due to frequent occupational exposure - it wasn’t presented as a population-wide thing.)
The efficacy of a half dose of Moderna for people who originally received other vaccines, as currently being implemented in Taiwan, hasn’t been tested as far as I’m aware (if you know otherwise, feel free to provide the data). And it’s not unreasonable to expect that might make a difference in recommended dosing, for people who’ve never been exposed to the Moderna vaccine before.
In don’t have the data on hand. But I just learned there will be further liberalization of options in Taiwan starting on Friday. Here are some details from a report from Focus Taiwan posted this evening:
As for booster doses, the ACIP [Taiwan’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices] recommended that people be allowed to choose between the Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Medigen brands, regardless of which vaccine brand they had gotten for their first two doses.
As data has shown that the AstraZeneca vaccine is not as effective as a booster, people are only advised to get it if they have had adverse reactions to the other three vaccine brands available in Taiwan, Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said at the CECC press briefing.
The ACIP recommends that people 18 years old and above get their booster shot five months after their second COVID-19 vaccine jab. The purpose of the booster is to help people maintain protection against the virus over time.
Currently, only the Moderna vaccine is offered for booster shots.
[. . . ]
The CECC plans to release additional data on the protection provided by different vaccine brands in the coming days, according to Chen.
Source: https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202112200014
Guy
This conversation is not Taiwan specific (it’s from Columbia University in the US), and it’s about 10 days out of date (important as new results are coming in about vaccines and the Omicron variant). But despite these limitations, it does address some of the questions raised by @Andrew about boosters and recommendations about mixing and matching vaccine types. If forumosans are interested, they can check this out. Guy
December 10, 2021
COVID vaccine booster shots were originally limited to people over 65 and others with higher risk, but as of early December, all adults and some adolescents are now eligible(link is external and opens in a new window).
When should you get a booster? And will it ward off new variants like omicron?
We spoke with David Buchholz, MD, senior founding medical director for primary care at ColumbiaDoctors, and Marcus Pereira, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, for answers to frequently asked questions about booster shots.
Why are booster shots recommended?
Buchholz: The delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is still the dominant strain causing COVID-19 infections in the United States. It’s more contagious than previous strains, and a booster shot will help strengthen protection against severe disease or the complications associated with severe disease.
Pereira: Scientists from the FDA and CDC have closely monitored data and confirmed that vaccine protection may decrease over time. For example, studies in the United States have found that among essential workers, vaccine effectiveness against infection waned in July, though severe disease remained rare.
Are booster shots safe?
Pereira: Yes, booster shots are proven to be safe. Pfizer released a study of 10,000 participants in which half of them received a booster dose and half a placebo. In terms of safety, they found no new adverse events, meaning it was consistent with what has been seen in previous studies. For those concerned about myocarditis or pericarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle or the outer lining of the heart, no cases of either were observed. In fact, the placebo group had more serious adverse events than the booster group.
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Why a booster shot, and why now? The delta variant is still dominant, and a booster shot will help strengthen protection against severe disease or the complications associated with severe disease, Buchholz says. The booster may also provide you with antibodies that are effective at neutralizing the omicron variant, adds Pereira. Photo: Courtesy of CDC
Who should get a booster shot, and when?
On Dec. 9, the CDC announced(link is external and opens in a new window) that teens 16 or 17 years old, who had received the Pfizer vaccine, can get a Pfizer booster six months after receiving their second shot.
Pereira: A booster shot is now recommended for anyone over the age of 18 who finished their mRNA series [Pfizer or Moderna] at least six months ago or received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago.
By changing the eligibility criteria, the guidance is now less confusing. They’re telling the general public, absolutely get a booster. And the time to do it is now, before the holidays and the new year.
Can you mix and match vaccines?
Pereira: The FDA and CDC now allow for a mix-and-match approach for booster doses. That means that those who are eligible to receive a booster shot have the option of getting any of the approved vaccines. Data show that this is safe and effective and, in some cases, particularly in the case of the J&J vaccine, mixing and matching elicits a stronger immune response.
The National Institutes of Health released a study on mixing and matching that looked at antibody data. It found that the mRNA vaccines resulted in higher antibody titers in the first 28 days after the boost. If you were to really split hairs, getting a Moderna booster looks to produce slightly better antibodies of the three, but not by much compared to Pfizer—it’s almost tied. But if I got the Johnson & Johnson, I’d choose a Moderna or Pfizer booster.
Also, remember this data is based on antibodies, so what it means in the real world is hard to know. It is up to each individual to determine which type of vaccine to get as a booster shot, so I’d recommend speaking to your doctor for more specific guidance.
Will a booster help against omicron?
Pereira: The question of whether prior infection or vaccination is protective against omicron has been on everyone’s minds.
A number of labs throughout the world have been working on this since omicron was identified, and we are now seeing some early reports. The early findings, unfortunately, suggest that omicron is indeed able to evade some antibodies, whether those are formed from natural infection or vaccines.
That being said, it’s not all bad news. Most experts think that breakthrough infections should lead to milder symptoms. Even more reassuringly, it seems that booster vaccine doses can significantly improve protection against omicron.
The key here is that, more than ever, we need to get everyone who is eligible vaccinated and boosted. You want to be as protected as much as possible from these new variants, since we still don’t know much about them in terms of severity and long-term outcomes.
But obviously there’s still a lot that’s unknown about omicron, and we’ll continue to find out more in the upcoming weeks.
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“A booster shot is now recommended for anyone over the age of 18 who finished their mRNA series [Pfizer or Moderna] at least six months ago or received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago,” Pereira says. Photo : Courtesy of CDC
What if I’m immunocompromised? Does the timing of the third shot differ?
Buchholz: People who were immunocompromised when they had their first set of shots never got quite the level of immunity we would hope for, and so we have been recommending for a long time now that they get a third shot. We don’t call that a booster; that’s an additional dose. We’re trying to keep that language separate and that population separate.
So if you were immunocompromised during the time that you got your first shots, you really should get a third shot as long as it’s been a month or more since your second shot. Other adults need a booster if it’s been six months since their last dose.
Why should I get vaccinated if the vaccine already needs a booster shot to protect me? Are vaccines not effective?
Buchholz: Three-shot vaccines are very common. And that’s why resistance or criticism of a booster doesn’t make sense to a clinician. I’m a general pediatrician, and we give the same shots at 2, 4, and 6 months of age. And then we boost them somewhere between 12 and 18 months of age, we boost them again at age 4, and then we boost them again at 12. This whole concept of boosting immunity against high-risk diseases is well established.
We’re constantly boosting. We get boosters for measles, mumps, and rubella before we go to college. We give a booster shot for tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) to every woman who’s pregnant—every time they’re pregnant—because we’re trying to boost their immunity against pertussis, which is also called whooping cough, so that they’re not getting whooping cough and giving it to their baby. We boost all the time.
We know that the vaccine is not perfect; people do get breakthrough infections. But understand that the vaccine is as much about preventing serious disease—that means preventing hospitalization and death—as it is about preventing infection. Our goal with these vaccines is to prevent those more serious cases. And the vaccines are very, very effective in that regard.
Once in a while, you get a celebrity—an actor, an athlete, somebody with a public persona—who will say, “I’ve been fully vaccinated and I got COVID anyway, and it was serious! I was sick, I was in bed!” And that influences people’s perception of the vaccine and its effectiveness. Yes, there will still be vaccinated people who get sick and need to stay home, drink fluids, and get rest. But they aren’t often hospitalized. They don’t often die. That’s the vaccine working. It’s frustrating, because serious COVID cases are still incredibly rare in vaccinated people, but they get a lot of press.
Should we expect more COVID-19 booster shots to follow, like an annual flu shot?
Buchholz: The most common boosters that people think of, of course, are flu boosters. There are changes in the shot most years to adapt to the variant of flu, because flu is constantly creating variants. And so we change the flu shot to a variant booster and we get boosted again. That’s just like if we were to get a fourth booster shot for COVID. Someday, the COVID vaccines probably will be tweaked to adjust to a variant, just like a flu shot is, and that is normal. It’s expected. We will continue to boost for as long as the disease is in the community.
If the disease goes away, we’ll stop giving COVID shots and we won’t need boosters. Smallpox is a perfect example: We gave smallpox shots for decades, but we don’t do smallpox shots at all anymore because we eradicated it from the population due in large part to the vaccine.
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Concerned about the timing of your COVID booster shot and other vaccinations, like the flu shot? There’s no harm in getting the booster alongside other vaccinations, Buchholz says. “Side effects are also not additive or worse if you get multiple shots together,” he adds. “I got my Pfizer booster and flu shot on the same day at the same time.” Photo: Getty Images
Is the timing of my booster shot important, relative to other vaccines? Can I get it at the same time as my flu shot, or along with another vaccination, like shingles?
Buchholz: There’s no harm in having them at the same time. When the COVID-19 vaccines first came out, we recommended not getting the vaccine within two weeks of another shot. We needed data to confirm that your immune response to the COVID-19 vaccines wasn’t reduced by getting another shot at the same time. Once we had data that confirmed a COVID-19 shot with another shot on the same day or within two weeks of each other didn’t affect your immune response, we dropped the recommendation.
Side effects are also not additive or worse if you get multiple shots together. Using my pediatric example again, at 2 months of age, we immunize infants against eight different diseases with minimal or no side effects. And it’s convenient to get shots together so you don’t have to schedule multiple visits. I got my Pfizer booster and flu shot on the same day at the same time.
Are people more likely to have fever, aches, etc. (or “vaccine reactogenicity”) after a third dose? How should I prepare for my booster shot?
Pereira: Pain at the injection site and headaches were commonly reported side effects, but the booster dose has been shown to have a lower likelihood of side effects than the second dose.
The CDC has been monitoring injection site reactions and systemic reactions (fatigue, fever, body aches) as well as health impacts, such as the ability to work or perform daily activities. In terms of these factors, the reactions from the booster appear to be less disruptive than the reactions experienced from the second dose.
Buchholz: If those symptoms would potentially disrupt your ability to work, you might want to get the shot the day before a day off, just so that you don’t have that issue at work. Be prepared, but know that you may not even get those symptoms, and if you do, you can take some acetaminophen or ibuprofen to help make you feel better.
If I had COVID-19 and am fully vaccinated, do I still need a booster?
Periera: Pfizer did study those who had prior COVID infection, and the data suggests that a booster dose is protective for that population and certainly not harmful.
Closing thoughts?
Buchholz: Booster shots are an important tool but getting everybody vaccinated is even more important.
Tens of millions of eligible Americans have yet to receive a single dose. If you haven’t been vaccinated, we are asking you to please get vaccinated for your health and the health of your family.
Source: Your Questions About Booster Shots, Answered | Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Was reading NYTimes and AZ was listed as less effective against omicron, along with a number of other vaccines (Johnson and Johnson, Chinese and Russian vaccines, etc.). Wondering how Taiwan’s domestic vaccine is and whether they’ll be able to tweak it. The article said the vaccines still help a lot against severe illness. I’m really curious how 2022 is going to go.
Got boosted today.
First one at the hospital to get the booster, so it went pretty quick except for one thing…the staff told me that when they look up my healthcare record for the Covid shots they only see the 2nd shot on record…not the first one. 
If it’s not one thing it’s another…always some sort of problem.
One of the staff members took a picture of my Covid-19 Vax card and said she would contact the MoHW to try and get my record fixed.
Too many robots here these days to get the joke…