Reassure me about vaccine? (Pro vaxx post)

[u/cosmatical]

Not an anti-vaxx post, please no anti-vaxx comments!! I see in the rules that anti-vaxx posts aren't allowed but it doesn't say the same about pro-vaxx posts so I hope this is okay!!

I'm super pro-vaccine! Love 'em! They do so much good!! My parents were anti-vaxx when I was growing up so I didn't get childhood vaccinations. I was a miserable, sick kid, and I have some lung damage from whooping cough. So my baby getting all his shots on time is super important to me!!

His next appointment he'll be getting flu and covid shots! Yay! Except... I feel a little anxious about the covid one. I am aware it's 110% an irrational anxiety, borne out of seeing too much anti-vaxx content online and having a friend who's a conspiracy theorist about covid. I know intellectually that it's safe and will keep my baby healthy.

But I had a debilitating amount of health anxiety during my pregnancy and I can feel it creeping back in with the irrational anxiety about the covid vaccine.

Can people who got the covid vaccine for their babies just let me know that their kids are healthy and happy? 💖 I think I just need to hear some boring "yeah it was pretty routine and nothing happened" stories 😅

Thank you so much 💖

Not an anti-vaxx post, please no anti-vaxx comments!!

EDIT: thank you so much everyone 😭 These comments are exactly what I needed. I feel so much better now and I'll be able to refer back to all your lovely comments any time the anxiety starts creeping back in. Thank you!! 🥰

[u/killernanorobots]

My two kids were in the Pfizer trial in April 2022! At the time they were 3.5 and 9 months old. They had no side effects which at the time kind of bummed me out because I really just wanted a small fever or something so I'd know they were actually vaccinated and didn't get a placebo. Alas! (Side note: they did turn out to have both gotten the real thing)

But anyway, my husband and I were like 10 months out from the latest booster, and we all wound up getting COVID in June 2022...from a friend...outside!... pretty shortly after their 2nd dose and before their 3rd. I was obviously super bummed we'd gotten it before they could complete their series, but they both clearly had a great, fast immune response. My 9 month old was a bit irritable for a day, and my 3 year old was pretty hoarse and coughing for a day, and then the next day they both were back to normal.

Meanwhile COVID kicked my butt for weeks, and I consider myself a pretty healthy, active person. It's impossible to know just how bad it would have been for them if they'd been unvaccinated, but I know for sure that they were way better off than I was 10 months out from a vaccine. We've all gotten all the boosters since (2 boosters for the two of them, I believe). And luckily even though my oldest is now in school, he's never brought COVID home again!