Doctor compares vaccine reaction, COVID infection

HARLINGEN — What are the effects of a vaccine versus COVID-19?

COVID-19 has caused organ failure, serious respiratory distress and a slow painful death in so many. Now people are waiting long hours to get vaccinated.

While some have experienced side effects, Dr. Christopher Romero, medical director at PanAmerican Clinical Research, cautions people to remember how much worse things can be without the shot.

Speaking about COVID-19, he said, “It can cause very severe disease which I’ve seen first-hand. It can be fatal which is the reality of the situation and how things have played out here in the Rio Grande Valley.”

Romero has seen how bad COVID can be, and he’s also experienced first-hand the side effects of the second dose of vaccine.

“I had what can be characterized as a common reaction to the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine,” Romero said. “I had some minor discomfort at the injection site, some shoulder tenderness, and felt a little tired and achy the second day after the vaccine.”

However, he didn’t need to take any medication for the pain. In fact, he was able to go right back to work.

“I was able to come in and see patients and go about my daily routine but I know that for some people it may have laid them up for a day,” he said.

Compared to what he’s seen in COVID patients the past year, he’d take the vaccine over the virus anytime.

“For my experience it was something I would definitely go through again if it meant protection against this potentially lethal infection circulating in our community,” he said.

What’s remarkable, he pointed out, is how effective the vaccine is. Romero said the Pfizer vaccine has about 95 percent effectiveness, much more than the usual flu shot. And, reaction to the vaccine isn’t from a mild infection from live viruses or inactivated viruses, which aren’t even in the shot. It’s impossible to catch COVID from the vaccine.

So what is it, then?

“It’s just the message for your body to produce one specific protein that turns on the immune system,” he said. “It’s the immune system revving up for battle that we’re feeling after we’ve had the vaccine for COVID-19.”

An immune system boosted from a COVID shot is a better alternative to catching COVID, which has had havoc on Cameron County, doctors say.

“We have had over 1,350 of our fellow residents here in Cameron County die from COVID-19,” he said. “It’s the reality of how severe this infection can be.”

That reality can come in many dreadful manifestations. For some it can mean a rapid decline ending in death. For others it’s a long painful demise which includes being hooked up to machines in intensive care units. And then there are those who survive to a degree but still suffer after recovering.

“The long-haulers phenomena unfortunately is real where we’ve seen people who have previously been healthy, and in some cases previously young and healthy, have longstanding effects even after they get over the initial infection,” he said.

[email protected]