In last week’s post, I shared some of the ways that this pandemic has changed my life…and a few of you have asked me whether I got (or plan to get) the Covid-19 vaccine. There’s a story behind my answer, so I felt like I should just answer it here.
Last December, one of my dearest friends was diagnosed with Covid-19. She is younger than me and has no health issues other than being overweight (which is one of the risk factors that puts you into Phase 1B for the vaccine). For the first couple of days she was just feeling sick. Then Covid started to manhandle her. She texted me on her way to the emergency room. She’d had a 103 degree fever for a day or two and was unable to get it down. A chest xray revealed a spot of pneumonia in her lungs, and my normally feisty friend was admitted to the hospital.
We messaged each other every day and I kept close tabs on her. I sent her massive amounts of ridiculous cat photos and gave her updates from Finn the cat. She didn’t improve at first, but then they altered her meds and she was able to fight it. She shared with me that it scared her that she couldn’t get the fever to go down. After several days, she was released to go home…and she has fully recovered, thank God.
I am friends with several people who have either had Covid-19 or have family members who’ve had it, and all of their accounts are consistent: it is aggressive and it gets a firm hold on you. After seeing what my friend went through as a normally healthy, albeit overweight person, I realized that it would probably grab ahold of me easily if I were exposed.
When they first announced the vaccine was available, I balked. I didn’t want it. I was perfectly happy to wait for others to go first, waiting to see what the long term effects are. It worried me that this vaccine had been created in such a short period of time. I was afraid of making something worse by agreeing to put this thing in my body. Was I going to have damaging side effects from the vaccine? Would I be okay? I have the ability to stay home right now…do I really need it? I can just hole up my house and do grocery store pick up orders for the rest of my life. Why did I need the vaccine?
I decided to spend a little time learning about the vaccine and how it was created. How did it become available so quickly? Were shortcuts taken? What if I have allergies? Will the vaccine put dead Covid19 in my body? What is it made of?
These are all valid questions and I sought my own answers from reputable sources. I believe it is extremely important for each person to make up their own minds about the vaccine, so I will not share the information I found. I will encourage each of you to make a list of the concerns and questions you have regarding the Covid19 vaccine and seek out reputable sources of information to answer them.
For me, seeing my friend struggle with it…it scared me. I thought of Hot Mess Hubby. I thought of suddenly having to go in the hospital and not knowing if I was going to come back out. The quickness that this virus has taken people is disturbing. It was an easy “I’ll wait it out” for me until I saw people close to me struggling. Then it was more real. I’m not ready to leave Hot Mess Hubby or anyone in my family. So I made a list of my questions and started searching reputable sources for the answers.
After careful consideration of my personal circumstances and the information that I’d learned for myself, I decided to put myself on the list for the vaccine. I qualify as part of Phase 1B in the priority for vaccines. It took about 6 weeks to get my first dose. I am now waiting for my second dose, which should happen at the end of the month.
I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth part of Texas and I’m proud to say that the Lone Star State is doing a great job vaccinating our people who want the vaccine. From the time I drove onto the lot to the time I was walking back to the car…30 minutes. Everyone was kind, everything was efficient.
My arm was just slightly sore from the shot, but otherwise I had no side effects whatsoever. This was reassuring to me, as the Shingles vaccine royally kicked my ass. I was expecting to have the same side effects (fever, chills, body aches). With only the first dose under my belt, I am now 80% protected from Covid-19.
I have many friends who got the vaccine before me, several of whom have just received their second dose…and, oh my goodness, the side effects! Most of them are reporting the typical flu-like symptoms for a day or two. Not scary, just not pleasant…and so I am expecting that the second shot will knock me right on my ass. I’ll keep you posted.
Everyone should make their own choices and this was mine. You should make your choices for you and your family. Please be sure to do your own research when making your decisions. I am only sharing what my experience has been because some of you have asked, and I am not endorsing this vaccine for anyone – I am simply sharing the decision that I’ve made for myself. Please do your own research and speak to your doctor or consult the CDC’s website if you have questions about the vaccine.
Above all else, please be careful out there. Wash your hands, practice social distancing, and wear a mask. Let’s get the world back to normal. 🙂
Great answer and recap! We are still struggling with the do it/not do it dilemma. For every positive thing I hear about it, I’m freaked out by a negative. My understanding is that it protects you from severe side effects but not from catching it completely. Which, I have to admit IS A POSITIVE. I mean if I get it, I’d like to have the peace of knowing the severity would likely be less. However, I’m also torn by the worry that we could experience the more extreme adverse side effects of the vaccine if we were one of the unlucky few. It’s just so new and there’s no way to know how each of us will respond to it. Such a double edged sword, because the same can be said of the virus also.