Prioritize Sleep After Receiving The COVID-19 Vaccine

If you just got the COVID-19 vaccine, you might assume that it’s business as usual in regards to your usual routine.

Hold up one second - there are a few things you should be doing to maximize the effects of the vaccine.

In addition to simple steps like avoiding alcohol, drinking lots of water, and eating a balanced diet, it’s important that you prioritize sleep after receiving the COVID-19 shot.

There are several reasons why this is recommended - but know that it’s incredibly important. Here’s some advice to heed.

What is COVID-19?

A vital public health issue, COVID-19 is the name of the disease that ravaged the globe in late 2019 and all of 2020. It is the result of the virus SARS-CoV-2, a novel coronavirus first discovered in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019.

Transmitted through respiratory droplets like a sneeze or cough, just like most other coronaviruses, the disease is most readily spread when people are in close contact of around six to eight feet or less.

That said, the virus is also believed to spread via airborne transmission among those who are more than six feet apart. It occurs because aerosols are easily released when people breathe or talk. As a result, the disease is more often spread in places that have poor ventilation and are fully enclosed, and less commonly spread in outdoor settings.

Very rarely, it can also be spread by touching surfaces that are contaminated with respiratory droplets.

These symptoms of COVID-19 vary widely among people who are infected. The vast majority of the population, particularly those who are young and do not have any preexisting conditions, will be asymptomatic. Others might develop symptoms like a cough, runny nose, or loss of smell and taste.

More severe symptoms include fever, difficulty breathing, headaches and body aches, chills, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, and nasal congestion. It can also cause potentially life-threatening symptoms like chest pain or pressure, confusion, an inability to stay awake, and pale, discolored skin.

Unfortunately, people who are asymptomatic or suffering from only minor symptoms can still transmit the virus to others. There are multiple variants that have emerged, with some, like the delta variant, believed to spread more easily than the original.

Because of this, most governments and public health officials are urgently recommending anybody who is eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to help slow and stop the spread of COVID-19 in its tracks.

What COVID-19 Vaccines Are Available?

The FDA has given three COVID-19 vaccines authorization for emergency use, including the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the Moderna vaccine, and the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccine. Of these, only the Pfizer vaccine has received FDA approval as of August 2021. Other countries have additional versions of the vaccine in addition to these three options.

All three vaccines have been tested in clinical trials with thousands of adults and adolescents (as of writing this article, the vaccines have still not been approved for individuals younger than 12 years old in the United States). Individuals who took the vaccines were significantly less likely to become infected, require hospitalization, develop severe symptoms, and, most importantly, to die from COVID-19.

The vaccines offer considerable levels of protection with minimal side effects.

There are a few differences between the three major vaccines available.

Two, the Pfizer and the Moderna, require two doses. The Pfizer vaccine is administered with two doses given three weeks apart, while eh Moderna includes two doses at four weeks apart. For both, you are considered fully vaccinated within two weeks after your second shot. Both of these vaccines are mRNA vaccines, using a synthetic fragment of genetic material from the virus. This fragment trains the immune system to recognize and attack the virus.

Quality Sleep Should Be Important Regardless of Vaccine

The other vaccine, the Johnson & Johnson shot, is a viral vector vaccine that is more similar to the vaccines you may have received in the past for other diseases. It, too, is fully effective within two weeks of the first shot - but unlike the Pfizer or Moderna vaccination, it only requires one dose. Its rates of efficacy are slightly lower.

While two doses (or in some cases, just one) are all you need to be fully protected from COVID-19, some people with significantly weakened immune systems have been encouraged to get a third dose.

Additional vaccines are currently underway as well and may be offered should clinical trials demonstrate that they are both safe and effective. A vaccination by AstraZeneca has been approved for use in Europe but not in the United States. This also utilizes the viral vector method.

Another type of vaccine has been developed by Novavax which uses protein subunit vaccine technology. It incorporates small proteins from the virus that encourages the immune system to recognize and then attack the virus.

How Can I Get A COVID-19 Vaccine?

Vaccination has been ongoing since 2020, but the good news is that getting a vaccine is far easier now than it was at the end of 2020.

All states have made vaccines available to approved age groups. If you’re older than 12 years old, you should be able to get a shot. In addition, Pfizer is currently working on clinical trials in children who are as young as six months of age.

If you’re ready to roll up your sleeve and get a shot, you can do so nationwide as long as you are in one of these clinically approved age groups. Contact your local and state health departments for more information.

In general, though, vaccines are offered at mass vaccination sites, p pharmacies, medical offices, health clinics, and pharmacies. You often cannot choose which brand of vaccine you receive - you get whatever the site has in stock. However, you can ask, which will allow you to select a vaccination site that is administering the type of vaccine you would prefer to receive.

Are COVID-19 Vaccines Safe?

Sleep Benefits COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness

Now for the big question - is the COVID-19 vaccination safe?

Studies in tens of thousands of people all over the world have demonstrated that, for the vast majority of people, these vaccines are safe. More than 351 million doses have been administered and while there are some side effects - the most common ones being pain or swelling in the arm, headache, chills, fatigue, and fever - these are minimal and generally subside within a day or two of the shot.

Most of the time, they pose no additional problems. However, it is important to note that for the two-dose shots (Moderna and Pfizer) more significant side effects tend to be experienced after the second shot than the first.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been linked to rare reports of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome. This occurs in women under 50 and is exceedingly rare, having occurred seven times per every million vaccination.

With all the approved vaccines, there is a risk of severe allergic reactions. Again, these are exceedingly rare. This is why you must stick around the vaccination site for about 15 minutes after receiving your shot so that medical officials can keep an eye out for allergic reaction symptoms like difficulty breathing, rashes, or swelling.

This is also why it is important to let the medical staff who is vaccinating you know if you have any pre-existing conditions such as:

Allergies

A current fever
Symptoms of COVID-19 or a recent exposure
Are taking blood thinners or have a bleeding disorder
Are immunocompromised or taking a medication that temporarily suppresses your immune system
Have heart inflammation
Have received a different COVID-19 vaccination
Are breastfeeding, pregnant, or trying to conceive

Just about anyone can get the COVID-19 vaccine. However, it is not authorized in children and people who have had allergic reactions to a prior dose should not get the shot.

Sleep Can Benefit Your Health

There are a few ways you can increase the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccination.

Some of them are obvious. First, it’s important that you maintain basic precautions after you've been vaccinated but especially within the first two weeks, before the shot has become fully effective.

You will want to avoid large gatherings and maintain a distance of at least six feet from other people. Try to avoid being in poorly ventilated or fully enclosed spaces with other people and wear a mask or similar type of face covering when you are indoors or otherwise unable to maintain physical distance.

Wash your hands frequently and avoid contact with others (stay home!) if you feel sick in any way.

Getting plenty of sleep is important for your immune system. Although solid research about sleep and the COVID-19 vaccines is not yet available, studies related to other types of vaccinations have proven that sleep deprivation can dramatically reduce their effectiveness. Not getting enough sleep can also make you more susceptible to a variety of illnesses in general.

Sleep deprivation makes it more difficult for the body to protect itself. Poor sleep makes it more difficult for your body to protect itself since white blood cells are diminished.

It is these white blood cells that are primarily responsible for fighting illnesses, but there are a couple of other ways that sleep helps improve your body’s immune response.

One is via your T cells. When you don’t get enough sleep, your levels of stress hormones are increased. As these stress hormones rise, your levels of integrin, which are molecules that help T cells stick to virus cells and attack them, are reduced. When you get less sleep, your body produces less integrin - and fewer effective T cells.

Sleep affects how your body responds to vaccine

Not getting enough sleep may affect how well you respond to all vaccines. Patients who receive less than seven hours of sleep per night have a reduced immune system response and are more than ten times more likely to remain unprotected from various illnesses despite having been vaccinated.

As you sleep, your body works to recover itself from the day. There’s a big link between sleep and immunity because as you sleep, your body is working to fight off illness, repair muscles, regenerate cells, and heal organs. Your hormones are regulated while you sleep, also helping to regulate your metabolism and upgrade your immune response.

If you have a sleep disorder and are wondering how the COVID-19 vaccine may affect you, don’t worry. Having a diagnosis is not a good reason to skip the shot. Most neurologists and sleep specialists agree that the vaccine is highly unlikely to cause or worsen any kind of sleep disorder.

However, if you do have a sleep disorder, there’s one more good reason to consider getting vaccinated - you could be at an increased risk of developing COVID-19. Conditions like sleep apnea, for instance, are associated with worse overall outcomes for patients who contract COVID-19.

Good Sleep Is Important To Overall Health and Effectiveness of Vaccine Shot

The takeaway from all of this? Good sleep is vital when it comes to making the COVID-19 vaccine as effective as it can be.

Unfortunately, this is something that is often easier said than done. For many people, the pandemic has negatively impacted sleep in a big way. Nearly a third of all Americans have experienced a hit to their sleep quality, with another 30% noting a difficulty in their ability to fall asleep at night.

It is all too easy for stress and your schedule to interrupt your nightly sleep, but if you want to safeguard your health and be as healthy as possible, it’s vital that you get at least seven hours of quality sleep per night. Of course, this number can vary, but for most people, seven is the magic number to stay healthy and function well.

Do your best to minimize distractions and stressors at nighttime and establish a solid winding-down routine that allows you to relax. Keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet, and you should be able to fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow.

Of course, getting the COVID-19 vaccine is a wonderful way to protect yourself and others from this dangerous disease. Pair the shot with a good night’s rest, and you’ll be well on your way to a healthier you.