Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you. Woody Allen
I jumped at the chance to get vaccinated three weeks ahead of schedule. No big deal, right? Are you kidding me? If you’re as paranoid about vaccines as I am, you know it’s a HUGE deal.
Before getting the COVID-19 vaccine, the last time I was vaccinated was for H1N1. My body reacted badly to it, leaving me sicker than I’d ever been in my life. Since then, when it came to vaccines I just said, “No.” Because of this, the decision to be vaccinated against COVID-19 was a big one.
Decision made, when I heard there was going to be a COVID-19 vaccination pop-up clinic in my area three weeks sooner than my vaccination was booked for, I called to see if I could bring my appointment forward.
To my surprise, I was able to bring the date forward.
With just two days between vaccination day and me, it felt like a loud rumbling freight train was barreling straight at me.
Pre-vaccine anxiety
Much as I hate to admit this, I was so distrustful and anxious about getting jabbed, I finally put pen to paper to write and sign a Last Will and Testament. That’s what I call paranoid.
I’m happy to report that I was jabbed this morning and am still alive and breathing 12-hours later. I say this after sleeping for 3-hours this afternoon, which is unusual for me. The vaccine may cause tiredness as a side effect. My arm hurts. Apart from these two minor physical differences between today and any other day, and despite a Woody Allen level pre-vaccine paranoia about it, what I can tell you―truthfully―is that I feel more relaxed and happy right now than I have at any other point during the past year.
The atmosphere at the clinic was relaxed, reassuring, cheerful, and smooth moving. Pfizer was on tap. I had a hope that it would be Pfizer, because―let’s be honest about it―Pfizer is what we call the good vaccine or the better vaccine; and we all want the good one.
Well, “Yabba-jabba-do,” I got the good one.
The jab was painless. There was a brief moment spent asking myself, “What if I go into anaphylactic shock?” This was followed by more moments spent sitting in a chair―to be monitored for Anaphylaxis
As I was texting friends and family to tell them I’d been vaccinated, it occurred to me that neither I nor any of the other newly vaccinated people around me appeared to be having an anaphylactic reaction.
Fifteen minutes later, a firefighter who was disinfecting the vacated chairs of the newly vaccinated, offered me a cheery, “Have a good day,” as I opened the door marked EXIT, and stepped outside into sunlight on this warm spring day.
A couple of ADVIL and a 3-hour nap later, body parts have yet to fall off. Scales do not appear to be growing on my skin. There are no strange growths coming from my head. No cold symptoms. No headache. The main physiological symptom I am experiencing right now, aside from a sore arm, is a huge sense of relief.
Vaccine hesitant? In the words of the late great Elizabeth Taylor:
“You just do it. You force yourself to get up. You force yourself to put one foot before the other, and God damn it, you refuse to let it get to you. You fight. You cry. You curse. Then you go about the business of living. That’s how I’ve done it. There’s no other way.” ~ Elizabeth Taylor
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