CNN had a good article on what people should expect after their second vaccine shot that many may want to read to get prepared. Talking and observing many that have received the Pfizer of Moderna vaccines in the United States, it is clearly a mixed story. Some of had no side effects, some have had extreme short term illness.

My experience summary: second verse, same as the first! I had exactly the same side effects that I had after my first vaccine shot.

If interested here are some of the details:

• After about 4 hours, my arm near the shot location started to get quite sore
• After about 6 hours, I started to feel slightly fatigued
• Overnight, my arm got VERY sore, and it was a little uncomfortable sleeping
• In the morning, I felt slightly achy and slightly fatigued
• The arm was very tender to the touch and slightly restricted in movement. I did take two 200mg ibuprofen for the sore arm and that helped and did not have a need for anything later.
• By Saturday night, the arm movement restrictions were gone and only the “jab” area was sensitive to the touch.
• By Sunday morning, only slight arm sensitivity and almost no indication of any other side effects.

Similar to the first shot, I took an easy 10K run to work off the achiness and soreness. I ran about 15 seconds per mile slower, but it was very helpful in working off the side effects.

In the end, it was no big deal and I am very happy with Moderna vaccine so far. I am already willing to get a booster shot in 6 months to deal with the UK and Brazil variants that are starting to occur. So far, early results show that Moderna is 90% effective even after 6 months. I will share udpates here when available.

Now, what is the next step? Keep your vaccination card in a safe place. Both CBS and CNN had some good recommendations for your vaccination card after getting your second shot.

Recommendations

1. Take a photo on your mobile phone and keep a backup on OneDrive, Box, etc.
2. Make a paper copy
3. Laminate the original to protect it.
4. Only take your mobile photo version of paper copy with you to preserve the original

Time to Travel

Now that we can start to travel again, what will be the future hotel experience? Hilton states or should I say “warns” that the hotel experience will no be the same as before the pandemic.

No longer daily cleaning service, very limited hotel (food) room service, limited restaurants and reduce amenities. Will this make the large hotel chains less competitive with smaller independent hotels that will take advantage of the gaps and offer more services? Time will tell…

Stay tuned, I expect this will be a good opportunity to share some travel experiences and reviews in the not too distant future!