The rollout of the vaccine to this nasty global pandemic we’ve been dealing with has been frustrating, stressful, confusing, and annoying, usually all at the same time. I am happy for my friends across the country who got in early and perplexed that some of my neighbors somehow got first dibs before my mom was able to get hers. Then I’m reminded of the over 500 thousand people that this virus has killed here in the US, plus the millions more around the globe. Something so small reeking so much havoc to the human race across the planet is terrifying and hard to comprehend. How is it possible? Why did this happen? We all want an answer we’re almost certain to never have, and we all want someone to blame in order to explain it all away.
Thankfully, my mom eventually got her 2 shots, my stress level diminished, and I kicked back and waited for something magical to happen that would give me my chance to get that shot. In the last few weeks those flood gates began to open for many of us, and through knowing somebody, who sort of knew somebody, who sort of works for a company in another state that might have a few extras if you sign up on the right day, I might be able to get it. Alas, I did.
That fateful day turned out to be Thursday night when 3 of us crossed state lines and showed up to the most efficiently well run operation I’ve seen in years. Keep in mind, mass COVID 19 vaccinations are not something people put on every year. This isn’t a Super Bowl parade in New England during the Brady years or Lollapalooza mmid 90s. 13 months ago, if you said Corona, I asked where’s the lime. Yet, that Thursday night, I saw a swarm of volunteers and medical professionals check my id, my reservation, give me a few instructions, and within minutes a needle with J&J vaccine was plunged into my right shoulder and blasted into my body.
The needle itself gave me more initial relief than actual pain, and the 15 minutes waiting in a converted basketball gym allowed my blood pressure to return to a 2019 state. I got it. I finally got it. There I was with my wife and the friend who helped make this happen, and all 3 of us had vaccine coursing through our bodies. The end of this thing just might be in site. 20 minutes later a whole different group would be sitting in our chairs, then 20 minutes later another group. All told, over 4 million people went through that same experience as I did on that Thursday. I think 4 million more did it on Friday. Millions more over the weekend, and hopefully yours is coming soon if it didn’t happen already.
As I walked out into a spectacular spring night, I had a bounce in my step. I felt like a kid getting out of school on the last day. I know it will take about 2 weeks until this miracle of science does it’s job, but just knowing that clock is ticking is enough for me right now. Life may be getting back to something like normal sometime pretty soon.
In the blitz of the experience, I was told about side effects, and I heard stories from all kinds of people sharing their vaccine story. Side effects, schmide effects. I’ll be fine. When I woke up the next morning with a slight headache and an achey arm I didn’t have a care in the world and began another quarantine/ mask-wearing day. Then 3pm rolled around and so did that side effect bus that was hiding around the corner. BOOM! Smack in the face. That vaccine hit me like an MMA roundhouse kick to the temple and I was KO’ed.
I’ve always been amazed at how the human body can put off pain and suffering for a while. You hear stories about people with gruesome injuries pushing past what they should. In a much less dramatic fashion, my body did the same. During the day as I ran errands and took care of work tasks, I kept ignoring the foggy brain and headache. My shoulder hurt and body aches were there, but they weren’t that bad, however once, I walked into my home, uh, oh.
I got it all, the full schmoresgeboard of flu symptoms. It’s like I went up to the all you can suffer buffet line and took one of everything: fever, chills, aches, sweats, and more. Yuck.
All told I was stuck in bed for about 16 hours with not much more than a couple bowls of tomato soup and a non stop supply of water. I felt awful but as night turned to day and the hours ticked by, thankfully, it all went away.
A few days later, I learned that some serious side effects have caused harm to a handful of women who got the same shot as I did. This is terrible and it reminds me why they call it the practice of medicine. All of us want certainty in the world of medicine. We want to believe that if we do X then Y is going to happen no matter what. Unfortunately, science laughs in our face when we say that. There is no certainty here. There is no guarantee that vaccines and social distancing will bring an end to the last year plus of COVID-19 dominating our lives. However, science is giving us hope, and as the experts learn more and more about this disease and others. I am in possession of a new feeling of hopefulness that better days lie ahead for us all.
I’m glad I got the shot. I hope you do to, and I hope the end of COVID-19 is coming soon.
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