Am I more likely or not as likely after full vaccination with Phizer to get a mild infection?

[LiberalFighter]

I only had very slight pain from the needle but not after effects. No flu, fever or anything.
After the 2nd shot the worse I had was pulling the bandaid off and again no flu, fever, or anything.

Is it just because I've had a few cases of the flu before, had 2 bouts of the measles, stab my foot with a pitchfork when I was about 7, had a mild case of the shingles? I am 67.

Or maybe asked a different way. Does each person respond differently to the shots but the overall effect is still the same for protection?

[kirkuchiyo]

1. Correct

From what I've read the older you get your immune system is less aggressive and the less reaction you have. Protection is the same though.

[Ocelot II]

2. Each person reacts differently.

You might have a mild reaction, an intense reaction, or none at all. But that's not a measure of how well-protected you will be, and previous viral infections you might have had are irrelevant because the vaccine doesn't use the whole virus itself at all - just the mRNA part, which enables an immune response only to the "spikes" on the virus.

[Dreampuff]

3. Are you wondering

If you will accumulate the antibodies since you didn't get sick with either shot or what type of infections do you mean?

If you are referring to the antibodies, my understanding is that whether you get sick or not after your vaccinations, your antibody protection will still be quite similar. The only difference I have ever read is that people who are active and athletic seemed to produce more antibodies faster then sedentary people.

I'm not sure they know the reason why some people get sick from the vaccinations and some don't. As an example, I am just a bit younger than you and I didn't get sick from either vaccinations. My husband, who is several years older didn't get sick from it either. Our 45 year old neighbor got extremely ill. Then again, our 70 year old friend got ill. Isn't it wonderful to be vaccinated and have a lower risk of death from this horrible pandemic?

[ProfessorGAC]

4. There Was A Post Here Earlier This Week...

...that showed the percentages of side effects for both Pfizer & Moderna.
In each case, the totals added up nothing close to 100%.
Meaning there are loads of fully vaccinated people who had no discernible reaction to the vax.
My wife is one of them.
I had a 12-14 hour reaction (fever & muscle ache in upper back) but that was Moderna. The post I mentioned showed Moderna with a higher fraction of side effects. Not by a lot, but statistically significant.
I don't think, as one individual, no reaction is a negative. As I mentioned, lots of people had no reaction.

[nuxvomica]

5. I know someone who got cellulitis at the injection site 10 days later

But it was an inexperienced tech who didn't apply a bandaid. I tell folks to bring an extra one with them just in case, though it's unlikely pharmacies will fail to apply as it is advertising.

[oregonjen]

7. If it's Moderna, there's a name for it

Moderna arm. I got it the first time, 8 days after first dose. Just had second dose today, so we shall see what happens!

[elias7]

9. Or more likely, failure to swab well injection site prior to shot

Thus delivering a nice bolus of Staph into the puncture wound.

[stopdiggin]

6. not sure where you're going ...

(and I had virtually no reaction to both shots as well)
In the case of SARS-CoV-2, you are less likely to encounter any infection from that virus, mild or otherwise. If your question points toward will you have more overall protection against varying types of infection -- a heightened immune response to a wide (unrelated) variety of pathogens -- I think you're on shakier ground there. There was some (speculative) ideas floating around about heightened immune response in children -- due to exposures to other pathogens -- but I don't think the science is anywhere near making that affirmative.

To your last question. The answer is "Yes" -- people respond differently, and the 'level' of protection you received has no relationship to whether you had a good or bad response to the shot. And both Pfizer and Moderna continue to prove highly effective in combating both infection and transmission.

[LiberalFighter]

8. Thanks all! I have a clear understanding. Wanted to make sure my protection wasn't less.