V is for Vaccine #PandemicAlphabet #SOL21

It started with a group text.

There I was, up at 1 a.m. doing who knows what (scrolling a social media site, most likely) when my phone lit up with a notification. It was one of my co-workers sharing that the communications person from our school had just sent out information about available vaccines.

I immediately hopped on the computer and signed up for a vaccine the following week during the one slot that kind of worked with my schedule. I say kind of because I had to reschedule the last half hour of my office hours that day, but that seemed a small sacrifice to make.

My colleague and I unknowingly made our appointment for the same day and time so were very excited about seeing each other, possibly even in the line while we waited. Well, that dream was shattered because it was a drive through vaccine site and even though we had to park and wait after our shots, we couldn’t even manage to park next to each other. However, my colleague is smarter than I am and suggested we meet up in a different parking lot to say hi and take post-vaccine selfies. You know, as one does.

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Here’s a fun selfie story. As I was waiting for my friend, taking my alone in the car selfie, I was quite bummed because I didn’t have a band-aid. This was especially distressing because I distinctly remembered the person who gave me the vaccine putting a band-aid on my arm. Then, I was distressed because I have never (NEVER!) gotten a shot without getting a band-aid. So now, not only was my selfie going to be ineffective (does a post-vaccine selfie even count without a band-aid?) but I had been denied the general satisfaction of taking off the band-aid before I showered, knowing that there was proof of the day’s events.

Then, my friend showed up and pulled up her sleeve to prepare for the picture, and I remembered that, though my sleeves were short, I could pull mine up too and there my band-aid was. So that was a journey.

And then it was time for the side effects. I did get the Moderna vaccine (ahem, part one of the Moderna vaccine), and I did have some side effects, though they were fairly mild.

• Thursday: Shot day! No side effects, maybe a little arm soreness later that night.
• Friday: Sore arm, nausea, and headache/migraine. This was tricky, though. Was I nauseated because of the vaccine or because of the anxiety/excitement of getting the vaccine? Did I get a migraine because of the vaccine or because of the anxiety/excitement of getting the vaccine? These are what we call #chronicillnessissues or #chronicpainissues.
• Saturday: Extreme fatigue. I was basically in bed, sleeping, all day. My arm was still a little sore but I slept on it with no issues.
• Sunday: Still fatigued, though less so. Spent a significant amount of time in bed.
• Monday: Slept way later than normal, was fine when I eventually got up.

I have felt fine since!

I did sign up for v-safe to report my symptoms. I did it two days after my vaccine, though, because I didn’t look at the paperwork they gave us until then. In my defense, I had already read through the actual information about the vaccine when I signed up for my appointment. Still, two days later is better than no days later, so I and the CDC will take it.

I got the notification to sign up for my next vaccine already, so that appointment is made, and in two more weeks, I will be fully vaccinated!

There is a pinprick of light at the end of this COVID-19 tunnel, and I am HERE FOR IT.