I always want to get the Novavax protein-based covid vaccine because I've had better luck with it in terms of side effects than with Pfizer or Moderna, both of which usually knock me out for 1-2 days. But with cases rising in my area, coinciding with the annual surge among kids at the start of the new school year (plus my husband is a teacher), I figured it'd be best to just get the earliest available 2026-2027 option, and our local CVS happened to be offering Moderna.
Given my track record of bad side effects with mRNA covid vaccines, I made a point to drink water before the shot and also to stay hydrated afterwards. I aimed to drink 70 oz. of water and ended up drinking 80 oz. before going to bed. I also tried to keep my left arm active.
So I got the shot in my upper left arm around noon on Saturday, and it began aching within an hour. Interestingly, it progressed only to a soreness in the upper arm area - it didn't become painful and it didn't restrict my range of motion (as has happened in the past). I was a bit more tired than usual in the evening and went to bed early, but all that water took its toll and I woke up every 1-2 hours to use the bathroom. Thankfully, I was able to fall right back asleep, except the last time, which was just before dawn. I was still tired so I laid in bed for hours just to keep resting.
Notably, when I finally got out of bed, I didn't have any of the side effects I'd had before - no fever, no chills, no body aches, no persistent headache. I did have a little headache, which felt consistent with the inability to fall back asleep in the early morning. I also felt more tired than usual, but not like a heavy fatigue.
For all of Sunday, my left upper arm continued to feel sore, and I felt kind of sluggish. I went to bed early again, and by Monday morning the soreness had subsided enough that I could at least lie on my left side. I woke up feeling refreshed, like I did sleep enough, but still had low energy, which continued all day. Tuesday (today) was my first day feeling back to normal.
Overall, side effects felt on par with what I experienced with the protein-based Novavax vaccine, which is to say, a lot fewer than what I had previously with mRNA vaccines. I was all set to credit the 80 oz. of water I drank, but then just this morning I learned that there are TWO versions of Moderna available this year! According to that link: "Moderna has developed mNEXSPIKE, a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine that uses only one-fifth the mRNA dose of their Spikevax vaccine."
Nothing in the process of making my CVS appointment told me which Moderna vaccine I would be getting, but when I log into my CVS account now, I can see under "Prescriptions" that I got "Mnexspike 2026-2027", the newer lower-dose mRNA vaccine! Moderna reports that "rates of solicited local and systemic adverse reactions were generally similar between the 2 vaccines", but I'm inclined to think that for me personally, even though the 80 oz. of water probably didn't hurt, it was likely the low-dose vaccine that led to me having far fewer side effects this year.
