We know some people get COVID symptoms after they have been vaccinated. If you have a strong onset of symptoms like fever, aches, or chills, does that mean you have been infected with COVID-19 before?
We can verify that the answer is no.
Our sources are Dr. Iahn Gonsenhauser, the chief quality and patient safety officer at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and Dr. Joe Gastaldo an infectious disease expert at OhioHealth.
They both agree the answer is no.
That's because every person is different and everyone's response to any of the three approved vaccines will vary.
So we can verify, your response to the vaccine does not indicate whether or not you've been infected with the virus before.
So if you do have a strong response there are a couple of things to consider:
"It does not mean that you've been previously exposed. It just means that you have a really strong and healthy immune system and that's great," said Dr. Gonsenhauser.
“I know plenty of people who have had COVID who do have more of an immune response with the first dose, but I also too have had many patients that I've talked to that have had covid that have minimal to no response to the vaccine,” said Dr. Gastaldo. "Everybody is very different, everybody's immune system is different, as people get older their immune response becomes weaker so you really can't use that as a way to suggest whether or not you've had COVID."