Both my husband and I struggled with that question for a while. I think we were pretty sure that he should get vaccinated. The real question was should I?
In the past, I’ve had some nasty reactions to vaccinations. I would have to say that it was the delivery suspension solutions that caused the problems. My reactions were never enough to put me in the hospital, but they were severe enough to put me out of commission for a few days.
After reading about other people’s experience with the Covid-19 vaccine, especially the second dose, I had my reservations about taking the vaccine.
Eventually two things came together at about the same time: (1) I decided the benefits outweighed the possible discomforts and (2) Wyoming opened up Phase 1b in the vaccination schedule.
Since both my husband and I are over 65 years old, we qualified for Phase 1b vaccination. And also, I am without a spleen due to an accident a few years ago.
So, as soon as I read that we were eligible and told my husband, he made arrangements for us to receive the vaccine. It took one call and we had an appointment for the next day.
We were vaccinated (no waiting … benefit of living in a small town) Thursday, February 4, 2021, at 1:15 p.m. We received the Pfizer vaccine. And as of writing this, about 48 hours later, I can say that so far the first dose is no worse than getting a regular flu shot. Maybe not even as bad. Maybe.
To be sure, the regular flu shot gives me a fair amount of grief. The arm I am injected in gets very sore. So sore that any movement is quite painful. I usually run a slight fever, my head aches, my body aches, and I am very tired and run-down feeling for about five days.
But so far … knock on wood … this Pfizer vaccine isn’t even as bad as that. Yes, my arm is incredibly sore, but the rest of me feels fine. I would be so happy if it stayed that way over the next few days.
I’m a little worried about the second dose. But the people at the clinic where we were vaccinated said that they have had no reports of extreme reactions. The woman my husband spoke with said she’s had both doses and that the second one was a little worse but in a day or so she felt fine. So I have hope that we will weather the second dose just fine as well.
Even after we are supposedly up to the estimated 95% immunity about two weeks after the second dose, we will not stop all our infection mitigation practices. And we’ve actually ordered some cloth masks that will hopefully fit my husband’s big face so he can double up on his masks. I’ve been wearing double masks since the beginning of all this.
Part of my decision to get vaccinated was also a sort of civic-minded decision. The more people who are vaccinated, the sooner we can begin to put some of this behind us.
I don’t know that things will ever go back to the previous “normal.” And, in reality, I’m not sure that it should. There are some things that I think have been better because of Covid-19. Most people might not agree with that, but it’s how I see things.
So, my bottom line is this. If you are on the fence about being vaccinated and don’t have a clear medical reason why it would be harmful for you to do so, get vaccinated. It will help you and it will help others as well.
Maddie's Mom Writes 