My Privilege Got Me A COVID-19 Vaccine

I wanted to get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible, but despite being in group 1A eligibility, it looked like it was going to take 3 months to get vaccinated.

My county has a sign-up form to get it through the public health department. I signed up in January and the last update said I still had six to 12 weeks to wait until it was my turn.

There are also private companies offering shots, but getting on their list also meant waiting weeks - if you were lucky enough to time it just right to get an appointment.

But then my boss called and offered to get me an appointment. The privilege involved was shocking. Because of my job, who I knew and who they knew, I was able to get the vaccine faster than friends who have equally dangerous health conditions and teacher friends who are back in the classroom.

I also had the privilege of being able to take off work on a Friday afternoon, with almost no notice, to go get my shot.

But once we get past the privilege of how I got an appointment, and address the fact that different parts of the country are getting wildly different amounts of the vaccine to distribute, we can talk about what it was like to actually get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Many, many famous people and politicians have gotten video of them getting their vaccine in an effort to promote getting the shot. And it is definitely my intention to promote getting vaccinated. Unless your medical professional tells you not to, get the damn shot.

That said, it's not the cake walk that many people would like you to believe. And the reaction varies person to person.

The day of our appointments, my husband, our maintenance man, and I were all scheduled to go to a clinic operated by Walgreen's.

When we arrived, we were all given a temperature scan and then directed to a desk where out pre-filled out information awaited. They went through the typical disclaimers and asked if anyone was feeling ill that day. The three of us were escorted individually to curtained off areas where the vaccine was administered.

Each individual giving the shot was different. My maintenance man and I were in an out in about a minute. My husband got a longer explanation of the possible side effects and information on when we would get our second dose.

Then it was a short walk down the hall to be handed a sticker saying we got our first shot and a sticker telling us when we could leave. Everyone was herded into a large room with socially-distanced seating and monitored for 15 minutes by nurses.

Waiting in this auditorium was in some ways the most annoying part of the process. The nurse at the front of the room kept people in socially distant range from one another and then announced the time every minute.

And then we were allowed to go home.

The shot itself was reminiscent of any vaccine. It is administered into the lower part of the shoulder muscle, the front deltoid.

Within about an hour of the shot, I wearing a hoodie, wrapped in a blanket and shivering. My head throbbed and my muscles ached as though I had just had a lengthy weight-lifting workout.

My maintenance man just had a headache.

My husband had minor chills, muscle aches and a minor headache.

For me, the chills lasted about three hours. After that, the injection site itched and my head hurt, but it was no worse than your average sinus headache.

When I went to bed that night, I slept fitfully because every time I rolled over onto that should it would wake me up. I slept for about 12 hours and then felt mostly okay the next day. There was a little bit of a lingering headache and muscle aches, but nothing a little ibuprofen wouldn't take care of.

Both my husband and my maintenance man reported a stiff shoulder the day after the injection, but no other side effects.

The one thing the vaccine clinic had mentioned that we all found to be true was that we were parched on the day after the shot. That morning I had a glass of water, a can of seltzer and a cup of tea and was drinking them all in rotation. I felt ridiculously dehydrated.

My shoulder was sore for about 48 hours after the vaccine, pretty much the same as the last time I got a tetanus shot. But by Sunday afternoon, I felt great.

Talking to other people who have had the vaccine, the reactions the three of us had are pretty typical for the Pfizer vaccine we had. Some people just feel a little tired. Some people have no reaction at all to the first shot. Some get some head and muscle aches.

Everyone I know who has had the second shot said it's a bit tougher, leaving you feeling exhausted for the next couple days.

All in all though, the vaccine reactions seem like a small price to pay to be 95% less likely to get COVID-19. Sacrificing a day or two to relax with a headache seems a lot better than the months of recovery that it can take to get over COVID-19. And the sooner we have all gotten our shots, the sooner we can get past the pandemic.

After a year of missing everything and wearing a mask every time I leave the house, this seems like a small sacrifice. Please get your shot as soon as you can!