Moderna Vaccine - Should I Get My Second Dose 3-5 Days Before My Big Race?

My buddy who I run with is in pretty good shape. He's a PT so he had the Moderna Vaccine. He's 30 years old. First shot he said wasn't too bad. But 12 hours after his second shot, he became very ill with flu like symptoms. He said that his legs felt like bricks, like he had run a marathon the day before. BUT he also said that only lasted for a day. He got the shot on Saturday, and was completely fine on Monday.

Who knows how it would affect you but I'd plan on not running the day after you get the vaccine.

This sense the norm but, op, if it's that important, just call your provider and reschedule your second dose. Unless it's already way late, is no big deal.

I had a friend get it 42 days later because his state botched allocation of second doses. The shot still laid him out for a day...

*seems the norm.

I wouldn't get the 2nd shot on the day of a race or even up to 2 days before a race. I was fine after my 2nd dose but my wife felt pretty bad the next day.

As an aside, don't take any nsaids like ibuprofen or naproxen sodium (aleve) before or after your shot. I wouldn't even take aleve the day before if your shot is early the next day because aleve has such a long half life. Just to be safe, don't take acetaminophen either. If you start to feel bad afterwards and do have flu-like symptoms, resist the urge to take anything. Those symptoms might suck but the effectiveness of the vaccine will be increased if you don't blunt your body's immune response. Just suck it up, hydrate, and ride it out. Don't plan on doing anything the day of or after if you can. You may be pleasantly surprised and not have any symptoms. Everyone is different.

I felt really lousy the day after--body aches, fatigue, etc. (basically generic virus symptoms but no fever--kind of like a bad hangover). For the next 3 days or so my energy was WAY down and I was really tired. Just overall really bad fatigue. Like what I imagine overtraining syndrome would feel like. After about half a week I was back to normal.

From my work and client prospective we had everything from no symptoms to flu like symptoms so i would do it after the race just in case. You don’t need the second shot exactly four weeks later. I personally had a headache but otherwise I think my legs were all fine.

I had nausea and vomiting the second night after my second Moderna dosis. A day later I felt fine.

I would, and raced 5 days post second pfizer shot. My temperature held stagnant at 99.6 for three days after. Took some tylenol, and raced like nothing ever happened.

I would not advise this! I felt achy about 24 hours after and that's not a good feeling you want going into a major race. However, after that I felt great and normal and even had a fast 20 mile training run. Though, mentally , there's no way I'd want to feel bad going into a race , period.

I am planning on getting my second shot 2 days after a race.

It's not worth it to risk a crappy race.

Just reschedule your appointment.

The truth is, no one knows and everyone will react somewhat differently. I felt really energized two days later, after having a bad prior 48 hours. Reschedule.

I got the 2nd Moderna shot and the next day my car didn't start.

You shouldn't get the Covid vaccine, or at least the 2nd shot.

Moderna vaccinator wrote:

I am planning on getting my second shot 2 days after a race.

It's not worth it to risk a crappy race.

Just reschedule your appointment.

I would be just a little concerned that your immune system could be weakened by the race which could lesson your body's response to the 2nd vaccination dose and thus it may be less durable and/or less effective.

Shot Boy wrote:

I was curious if anyone has experience receiving the second dose of the Moderna vaccine and its effect on how you felt running around 3-5 days later. One of the more important races of my outdoor season (10,000m) is four days after my current appointment for the second dose. Has anyone had any significant problems in terms of how you felt working out or racing shortly after receiving the second dose?

The 4 week delay between the first and second shot was likely the minimum time Moderna thought was required between the shots. They had incentive to complete the vaccine trials as quickly as possible. According to an episode of This Week In Virology a few weeks ago the shows regular hosts all agreed that the mRNA vaccines could be just as effective if the 2nd injection occurred many weeks or months later. I believe the CDC or FDA said up to 6 weeks later. I would assume they went out only 6 weeks because they want everyone to reach highest efficacy level as soon as possible.

I am scheduled to receive my 2nd Pfizer vaccination 9 days before my marathon. I have never felt bad after a flu vaccination unlike my wife so I am hoping that whatever reaction I have to my 2nd shot is minor and short lived--does not affect my marathon race. With it being that close to my race I will be running much less mileage so hopefully will be ready for race even with vaccination.

A friend of mine told me the second shot put her in bed for a day.

I received my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine and didn't feel too bad the day of the shot, but the following day I felt pretty terrible with flu-like symptoms (chill, aches, general body fatigue). I didn't resume running until two days after the shot and felt fine.

I think that you should be okay three days following your second dose to race, but everyone will have a different reaction. As other people have noted, if you're concerned about the potential impact of the second dose on your running ability, you can reschedule the shot if you are able.

I suggest that you delay the second dose until after the race.

If it is really a 'big race', delay your shot until after the race. Some people have little to no reaction and those that do have a reaction it is usually no more than a day or two. But, even if you are feeling ok, without doubt you are not going to be at the top of your game until about a week later.

You are going to get so many different responses, it’s really hard to say how you will react. I only had a headache for one day after my second moderna shot and was totally fine running.

However after my first moderna shot (I was opposite of everyone!) I was fluish for like 2 days.

I think you will probably be fine 4 days later but if you want to be on the safe side, would schedule it after