Dr Fauci was ‘knocked out for 24 hours’ with side effects after second COVID-19 vaccine dose

Dr Anthony Fauci has admitted he was ‘knocked out’ for a full day by his second dose of COVID-19 vaccine. 

‘I was hoping that I wouldn’t get too knocked out. I did for about 24 hours. Now I’m fine,’ Dr Fauci said during a Thursday White House press briefing when asked if he’d had his booster shot. 

The nation’s top infectious disease doctor said he was ‘fatigued. A little achy. You know. Chilly,’ but ‘no sick’ after his second dose of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine. 

Those are among the most common side effects of either of the two shots authorized in the US, made by Pfizer and Moderna. 

But Dr Fauci continued to remind Americans that those side effects are not illness triggered by the vaccine, but the immune system ramping up to fend off the virus. 

Dr Anthony Fauci said during a Thursday White House briefing that he was ‘knocked out’ for a full day by fatigue, chills and aches after getting his second dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine on January 19

Dr Fauci revealed he got his second dose of the vaccine on January 19. 

It came 28 days after he received his first dose of the shot on December 22, on live television. 

He joined the ranks of other officials and high-profile figures whose vaccinations were televised to encourage Americans to get theirs, including President Biden, former Vice President Pence and three former US presidents: Obama, Bush and Clinton. 

Former President Trump, who had COVD-19 last fall, did not publicly get vaccinated. It is unclear whether he had the shot behind closed doors.  

Americans’ confidence in vaccines has improved since the summer, when only about half of US adults said they planned to get the shot. 

By the end of December, that share had risen to 60 percent, according to Pew Research.

Vaccine hesitancy threatens to undermine the critical rollout of vaccines. 

Despite the rise in confidence among the general public, health officials were taken  aback when high rates of health care workers – who were given top priority for vaccination – refused the shot. 

In Ohio, some 60 percent of health care workers turned down the vaccine initially. One Illinois veterans home said that 80 percent of its staff said ‘no’ to getting vaccinated. 

Dr Fauci received  his first dose of the vaccine on live television on December 22, in  an effort to instill confidence in the shot in Americans

Dr Fauci received  his first dose of the vaccine on live television on December 22, in  an effort to instill confidence in the shot in Americans 

About 80 percent of people who got Moderna's vaccine in its trial had side effects after the second dose (top and  bottom, fourth bar from left  in both). Headache, fatigue, aches (myalgia)  and chills were most common, suffered by more than 50%  of participants (bottom)

About 80 percent of people who got Moderna’s vaccine in its trial had side effects after the second dose (top and  bottom, fourth bar from left  in both). Headache, fatigue, aches (myalgia)  and chills were most common, suffered by more than 50%  of participants (bottom)

Surveys showed that Americans’ top concerns were that, despite published data from large trials, vaccines were developed too fast and might be unsafe or cause side effects some believed were worse than COVID-19 itself.

No deaths have been conclusively linked to either Pfizer’s  or Moderna’s vaccine.  

About 55 percent of people who got Moderna’s shot in its trial reported side effects after the first dose. 

Eighty percent of participants who got the real vaccine had side effects after the second dose, so doctors warned Americans to be prepared  to feel these. 

Like Dr Fauci, about 70 percent of participants were fatigued after their second dose and  more than half were achy or had chills. 

Headaches were also a common side effect. 

Anecdotally, dozens of Americans who said they took part in trials for Moderna’s and Pfizer’s vaccines came  forward saying the second dose had left them with significant side effects, with some reporting being in bed for day or more or developing high fevers. 

Since the rollout began, at least 20 cases of severe allergic reactions to Pfizer’s  vaccine have been documented. 

This has been a lesser concern with Moderna’s shot, although a batch of 330,000 doses was put on hold in California after seven health care workers there had reactions within 24 hours. 

Since vaccinations began on December 14, 18.9 million doses of vaccine have been  administered in the US. 

President Biden has set ‘100 million doses in 100 days’ as the goal of his first four-and-a-half months in office.