I’m never excited to get a shot or have anything done that involves needles. Needles are probably always going to be something that is tough for me to deal with and I always hate how fearful I get going to the doctor or having blood drawn and knowing what could happen. I’m lucky that I’m not fainting the way I used to, but I do still have this weird blackout thing where I tense up my body and hold my breath. It only lasts a few seconds, but it’s still exhausting to go through. And with vaccines, I have the added annoyance of always having a reaction to them. I can’t remember the last vaccine I got that didn’t give me some side effects. I don’t mind since I know it means I’m building immunity, but it’s something else I have to think about when I time getting a vaccine.
I think the only time I had a bit more excitement for a shot than fear was for the first Covid vaccine. But that was because I was so tired of being isolated and alone and that vaccine felt like the light at the end of the tunnel. And it was a big change for how I feel being around others, but it wasn’t the ending I think so many of us had hoped for. Because of vaccine hesitancy for whatever reason, not enough people were vaccinated to prevent new mutations from popping up. And those new mutations were able to get around the vaccines. I know that the vaccines still work because they don’t necessarily prevent illness but prevent serious illness and death. And I have had multiple friends test positive for Covid since being vaccinated and they all had very mild cases. So I have been staying on top of the news about vaccines and boosters.
I got my first Covid booster in November last year. And I became eligible to get a second booster over the summer, but I actually waited on getting it. I knew that there would be a new booster soon that helped with the new varients, and I didn’t want to get the old booster and then need to wait longer for the new one. So I just have been very careful about who I have been around and making sure that I’m wearing a mask when I’m in large gatherings.
But the new booster finally became available this past week, so I went about getting myself an appointment as soon as possible. I have only gotten vaccinations through Kaiser for my entire life. Even for the flu, I get the vaccine at a hospital or medical center. It’s just easy to do that since it’s automatically on my medical record. But when I looked into getting the booster at Kaiser, they didn’t have it available just yet. And since I didn’t want to keep waiting, I decided to look at the CVS near my house and found out that not only did they offer it, they had appointments available. So I booked one for this past Friday, knowing that I would probably have a reaction to the vaccine like I always do and would have the weekend to recover.
Making the appointment was super easy, but when I got there I guess it was the first day that they were offering the new booster because there was a decent line. It went quickly and I was only waiting for about 45 minutes, but it took me by surprise since I thought not too many people would get a vaccine in the middle of a weekday. But I guess everyone had the same thought and did it during their lunch break.
Since I know I have my blackouts, I warned the nurse there so she wouldn’t freak out. She made another nurse come to stand there in case I fully passed out, but fortunately, I didn’t and I just had my blackout for a few seconds. But they told me afterward that it was really crazy to see it happen and if I hadn’t warned them they would have been frightened. I’ve never been told that before, but I guess it does look odd.
I had to wait at CVS for a bit to make sure I didn’t have any severe reactions, but I wasn’t worried about that since I’ve never had a severe reaction. And when I was home, I felt pretty ok for a few hours. But then a few hours later, some of the side effects started to kick in. At first, it was just a foggy head and some body aches. Nothing too severe and actually pretty mild compared to some other vaccines. But on Saturday, I got a bit worse. This felt much more like what happens when I get a flu vaccine. I had a fever, more body aches, and my head felt like it weighed a million pounds. But I only had to work for a few hours that day and then I spend the rest of the day resting. I slept a lot and on Sunday I was starting to do better.
I still have swollen lymph nodes and a bit of a headache, but I think I’m finally over the hill with side effects. And while they are annoying to deal with, I know that getting Covid would be so much worse. This is the smart thing for me to do to protect myself and to protect those around me. I will still keep my same habits of wearing a mask and being selective when I’m in big crowds for now. I want to see how the numbers look for cases as it gets colder here and it’s when more people seem to be getting sick. I’ll be getting my flu vaccine soon too, so I’ll be protected against that as well. And hopefully, with both these vaccines, I will continue to stay healthy and the weekend of side effects will be totally worth it.
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