It really is hard to understand what can be so frightening to folks about vaccines that have been used in 100s of millions of people without signfiicant sequelae.

I have two sons in their 50s, neither of whom plan on getting vacccinated - One of them has several risk factors for serious Covid disease too if he would become infected.

I am a loss to understand their reluctance, but I suspect an influence via Web communities.... Both wives chose to be vaccinated, and already have received their shots.

The really funny thing, I had my second Moderna shot on March 3rd, and had no symptoms whatsoever. So I went back for my 2nd Shingrix shot Thursday, the first of which I received last October.

Shingrix vaccine is not the soft pushover Moderna's vaccine is. I ached all over for 36 hours, had a temp pushing 100ºF, a headache, and generally felt pretty punk. The worst I've felt in over a year.

I wasn't surprised, BeenThere, DoneThat. That was my experience last time.

But I had shingles about 8 or 9 years, ago, and I REALLY DON'T WANT it to visit me again. The good news is shingles is rarely fatal, but you may feel so bad you wish you would pass on.

Same exact experience with shingles and the vaccine here.

I had been warned before my first Shingrix shot, that the Shingrix vaccine might come with some nasty, but reasonably brief, symptoms post vaccination. I found that I can certainly concur with that warning. Sounds like you had an experience very like mine. But by the third day I was pretty well back to normal. But not nearly as alarming as my small pox vaccination I had in 2001 after 9/11.

Smallpox? Because they thought that could be used as a terrorist bioweapon?

Yes, because of the concern about the anthrax spores after 9/11. They needed a volunteer who would see potential small pox patients, and I knew I had been vaccinated twice as child. And then once again in 2001. I had a mild fefer, and a distinct viral prodrome - aching, felt sick, tired, yucky. But after 36-48 hours it left and I was fine, as I expected, but wondered a bit about it, for several hours.

Taught me to be more careful when I choose to volunteer 😇 Still, I would do it again, under similar circumstances.