As of Friday, 36.81 percent of Ohioans have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
That includes pregnant and breastfeeding women, some of whom are now getting their second doses after the state opened up eligibility to them in early March.
Sierra Smith from Miamisburg got her first shot when she was about 37 weeks pregnant.
“I did just fine. I had a sore arm and that was it,” Smith said.
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She got her second shot on Monday, a few weeks after giving birth to a healthy baby. Smith was tired and had a sore arm the next day.
“What we are seeing is that second dose does appear to, for some people, be more noticeable as far as the systemic immunogenicity. That’s those muscle aches, the febrile sensation. That’s really the immune reaction of the body,” Dr. Roberto Colón, chief medical officer for Miami Valley Hospital said.
He explained, those symptoms are safe for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and their babies and is overwhelmingly in favor of those women getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
“There is evidence that getting this disease has bad outcomes. There is no evidence that getting the vaccine leads to any bad outcomes. We do know, the vaccine reduces the complications from Covid, so the scientific evidence there again points in the direction of safety,” Dr. Colón said.
Safety was the top concern for Smith.
“The bottom line is, I trust my doctors. I trust that they are going to give me the best advice with the best information that they have. And I’m going to trust them and I’m going to trust my family and my own instincts over somebody on Facebook that wants to judge,” Smith said.
Cox Media Group
