Coping with COVID-19 Vaccine Anxiety
If you live with anxiety, you know that it can show up unannounced and sometimes for reasons that don’t even make sense to you. Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, your anxiety levels may be higher than they once were. Even years after the pandemic began, getting the COVID-19 vaccine may still cause anxiety. Here we’ll try to alleviate some of the most common causes of vaccine-related anxiety.
Know that safety wasn't compromised
Since most vaccines are developed over many years, it’s understandable that there are questions about how the COVID-19 vaccines were approved so quickly. With most vaccines, it takes years for researchers to find funding and get approvals. But when the pandemic started, emergency funding was made immediately available. This shortened the development timeline.
Another part of the quick turnaround is simple probability. In March 2020, research teams all over the world stopped what they were doing and started to work on creating a COVID-19 vaccine. By the end of April 2020, over 95 vaccines were being explored. Typically, there aren’t this many options in the works at the same time, so it can take a lot of trial and error before something is effective. With COVID-19 vaccine development, if a vaccine failed, there was no need to start over – there were still many options that looked promising.
A few other process changes have helped speed things up too. Many manufacturers overlapped steps, like running the first two phases of trials at the same time. Others were able to shorten administrative procedures or bring in new technology that cut down on waiting time. By the time these vaccines were authorized for emergency use by the FDA, they had gone through the same level of safety testing that all other approved vaccines do.
Prepare to feel a little under the weather
Remember that it is impossible to catch COVID-19 from the vaccine. However, like many vaccines, you may feel some minor side effects. From all the data so far, most side effects have been short-lived and occur within the first few days of getting vaccinated.
The side effects are similar to those of the flu shot and like all vaccines, there is a small chance that some people will have more severe reactions. Feeling sick is never fun and may be an inconvenience, but the vaccine is doing its job and helping your body develop immunity to the virus.
Serious and long-term effects are unlikely
Long-term side effects from vaccines are rare, and mRNA vaccines don’t contain the virus at all. Learning more about how vaccines work can help ease your worries about lasting effects.
Because the chance of serious and lasting side effects from the vaccine is so small, researchers and public health officials can confidently recommend the vaccine as the best way to reduce your risk of any COVID-19 related health issues.
Researchers will continue to collect and report data on safety, and studies on evaluating safety, effectiveness, and how long immunity lasts will continue for years. Stay informed by relying on reputable resources, like the CDC’s Vaccines page.
Managing your anxiety as your appointment gets closer
If you're still feeling anxious about getting vaccinated, especially as your appointment date approaches, here are some strategies you can put in place:
Pay attention to what you’re telling yourself. Next time you catch yourself thinking, “I’m going to have terrible side effects,” recognize that you simply can’t know that yet. Challenge this thought – you might feel run-down, but you can prepare for that, or you might feel completely fine.
Fear is very easy to generalize. The virus and the vaccine are related, but completely different, so make sure you aren’t viewing them as having the same risk level.
It may also help to think about the risk that comes with not being vaccinated. While some people have no symptoms at all, others who catch COVID-19 can have serious and long-term effects. Researchers have found that getting the vaccine reduces your risk of COVID-related hospitalization by 80% and COVID-related death by 90%. It is also important to get updated vaccines regularly because the COVID-19 virus mutates over time. Vaccines are specifically formulated to address these mutations, which provides protection against the most recent variants of the virus.
Waiting around for something you’re nervous about can feel terrible. It’s easy to get lost in your own thoughts and work yourself up when you have nothing to do. Bring a game, book, music, or something else to keep your mind busy.
Getting some reassurance from a medical professional can help you relax in the moment. They’ve done this before and can tell you what to expect and remind you of why it’s so important.
If the anxiety surrounding vaccination is too much to cope with, it’s okay to step away from it all for a bit. Allow yourself time to ease your worries. You can seek support from your friends, family, therapist or other medical professional. You can also focus on doing activities that are soothing to you before re-engaging with the topic.
Even though years have passed since the Covid-19 pandemic began, many of us are still coping with the anxiety that has come with it. If you are having a difficult time with vaccine anxiety, you are not alone. It is valid to feel fear, anger, and every emotion in between. Here are some things you can try if you are still looking for more support when navigating vaccine anxiety:
Visit mhascreening.org to take an anonymous, free, and private mental health test. It only takes a few minutes, and after you are finished you will be given information about the next steps you can take based on the results.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.