Cory6188

Unrelated to the point around the checklist for COVID symptoms, more generally, I would echo the point about not signing yourself up to fly the day afterwards. If you don't have a choice, you don't have a choice, but the day after my second Pfizer dose, I wasn't up to walking around my apartment, let alone a long airport concourse. Sitting vertical in a plane seat for hours really wouldn't have been fun - I mainly just wanted to lie down. You might luck out and be totally fine (and let's hope - about 50% of people didn't have any side effects, according to the CDC), but just a warning that you might be putting yourself through some misery.

turkeyRIOO

exactly the same for me

argonath

Exactly, my work policy is you get tested if you have any of the symptoms, no exemptions.

RooseveltL

Use common sense. If you are suffering fever, aches, swelling, etc. do you want to fly or potentially get stuck on a plane due to a mishap? Remove vaccination out of the picture!
Flying is a gamble and can be perfect (land 15 min early and ground crew greets the plane) or can be horrible with weather, mechanical, exceptional (unruly or sick) passengers causing reroute or acts of God so your scheduled trip to Albuquerque results in overnight layover in Dallas or El Paso. I don't think anyone can give you the answer as much as use the formula - Are you willing to take the risk? Would you want another passenger sitting adjacent to you to make the same decision (so they appear swearing, aches or swelling when you awaken them to go to the bathroom) and is your destination worth it or can postpone a few days?

IMO, as all airlines have questions for check-in - if you feel challenged due to symptoms sitting in a tube for 5+ hours - you can always change to another day when feeling better.

My own experience - my first shot had no symptoms or side-effects. If you have had reactions to other medications - you may need to plan for worse case scenario, but as others have stated - majority don't even feel the vaccination besides sore arm like a vicious bug bite.

DavidDTW

Don't be surprised or shocked if you don't feel up to flying that day. Fatigue and fever zapped all my energy the next day following my second shot.

cmd320

This is the correct answer. Vaccine side effects aren't symptoms, they're side effects. You can travel at any time regardless of when you received the vaccine.

Now, depending on how bad your side effects are (I know a number of people who were pretty messed up for a few days after their second shot), you may not want to fly as it would likely be a pretty miserable experience.

gbdbld

I have my 2nd pfizer dose 2 days before a flight. At this point I'll see how I react after the shot and cancel if I don't feel good. We can cancel anytime before the departure right? Even if you are already checked in?

The Situation

Use common sense. If you have been exposed to COVID or are engaging in activities that are high risk, you should get tested, but otherwise side effects from a vaccine do not warrant a test from all the guidance I have heard since you cannot get COVID from the vaccine. I did not have any side effects from my two doses and most people I know have not had any side effects from the two dose vaccines (other than a sore arm - I would not call this a side effect - its common sense that your arm will be sore). I have know a few people who had the JNJ one dose vaccine and all of them had side effects similar to the flu for 24-36 hours, but recovered very quickly after that. If you book a flight for 48 hours after your dose, you should feel fine to travel, and with flexible travel policies, that should give you further comfort.

exwannabe

Yes, check-in does not affect your abilty to cancel.

The practical question is that if this is a trip your really want to make in the general time frame, then being forced to cancel due to the side effects might be an issue.

BTW, you are allowed to take the second dose of the Pfizer/BioN vaccine as soon as 3 weeks after the first. But some places are booking 4 weeks by default. You might check the dates and see if you can move the second jab sooner. Even an extra day or two might matter in terms or your ability to fly.

PScientist

For what it's worth...starting about an hour after getting the first Moderna shot, I had a continuous runny nose that lasted until I went to bed that evening, and was gone the next day. I suspect that it's more likely that it was a rare vaccine side effect than anything else.

JerD

The people I know who had side effects (Pfizer) would not have wanted to fly and would have been visibly unwell. These were after the second dose and lasted about two days so plan accordingly. Everyone is different and I didn't have any side effects after my second dose and only a slight fever after the first.

DenverBrian

It does seem that A) the vast majority of people vaccinated have few side effects; and B) those who do rarely have them past 48 hours.

If you're really trying to be a model citizen, I suppose you could test for COVID 48 hours after getting shot 1/shot 2, and when you're negative, then that is a very compelling argument for being comfortable with flying.

The most important thing, IMO: Wear your mask properly. That means your nose. That's 2/3 of your breathing holes!

emma dog

I am a doctor. My whole family had COVID in October (brought home from work by me). I had Moderna in January. My wife had Pfizer in March. Both of us had symptoms identical to COVID except for loss of smell after both injections. As others said, symptoms (if any) come on after ~18 hours and they go away in ~12-24 hours. I had shaking chills and fever >102 after my vaccine.

Many folks who had COVID have symptoms after both injections. Around 1/2 of the folks who did not have COVID display symptoms after only the 2nd shot.

TheLifeOfA_NKCM

I think the big thread here is you can, but should you?

The checklist during check-in is entirely on the honor system. So, no ones stopping you from checking in if you feel under the weather.

Regardless, while for many, the vaccine can go without symptoms. For those who get systemic reactions, it's likely not worth bothering going on a plane. These same reasons actually led me to preemptively taking three days off of work in advance for my first Pfizer shot last week and based on how that went, I'll be doing the same for my second one as well.

The effects you'll be feeling if they're within a day or two of having been administered a vaccine have a very little chance of actually being covid as:

1. The vaccine can't give you covid.
2. You'd have needed to caught Covid before the flight from another source (which while possible, likely isn't the case if the effects are felt within 72 hours of the shot)
3. Adverse effects are intended and common with all three authorized vaccines

Optics aside though, feeling feverish and under the weather does not facilitate good travel and even in absence of that you're more than likely not going to want to lift/move your luggage around with a sore arm.

Stay home for a bit and give yourself a couple of days so you don't have to risk being uncomfortable while you travel.

QT31415

Symptoms vary - if you've had covid already, your side effects to the vaccine will likely be heightened. You may experience inflammatory symptoms with both shots.

If you haven't had covid, the first shot usually goes just fine and the second may come with body aches, extreme fatigue, etc etc which usually hits 8-12 hours after the shot and lasts avg 24 hrs. We usually tell staff to take the day after the shot off completely. What you chose to do is up to you - but 14 days after vaccine seems a bit long for the majority of people.

Of interest, very few of my patients that have dementia had side effects. Seems like if you forgot you had the shot the side effects were minimal. Also elderly people tend to tolerate the side effects better than youth, just my observation.