I‘m so proud of my people. Almost everyone in my immediate and extended family has gotten their COVID-19 shots. I thank God every day for that, especially given that a few of them caught mild cases of the virus before they were vaccinated.
While my parents were both fully vaccinated with Pfizer back in April, I just got my two Pfizer shots in August. Here’s a brief explanation of why I waited and how the shots themselves went.
The Preliminaries
What took me so long to get vaccinated? Basically, I ran into some technical difficulties and procrastinated for a long time.
My ID card expired at the end of 2019, a few months before the pandemic started. Thus began my vicious cycle of misery. I couldn’t renew my ID online because it wasn’t one of Florida’s new REAL ID cards. But I didn’t feel comfortable going to the DMV unvaccinated. But I couldn’t get a shot with an expired ID. Round and round and round…
Eventually I got tired of being trapped inside the house. On a good day, the farthest I went was to the mailbox or the dumpster. I could feel myself falling into a bad place. So, I bit the bullet and made appointment to renew my ID card.
No lie, I was scared to death when I went to the DMV office. The place was crawling with people. I wore two masks, which earned me lots of stares even though nearly everybody had on masks too. I sat as far away as possible from other people, and I literally cringed every time someone walked by too closely to me. It didn’t help that the place was running behind. When they didn’t call my number at my appointment time, I started worrying that something had gone wrong. At one point, I’m pretty sure I started to have a panic attack.
Everything worked out fine. I was there for about 45 minutes. I got my nice new ID card. I also spewed a ton of hand sanitizer on myself once I left.
The First Shot
I made my vaccination appointment for the following day at Walmart. I chose Pfizer. I didn’t have anything in particular against Moderna or Johnson & Johnson, but my parents and I agreed that we all wanted to get the same vaccine brand. None of the CVS or Walgreens stores in my area had Pfizer available at the time, but Walmart did. So, I made my appointment with them.
I was slightly more relaxed at the store than at the DMV. I only wore one mask this time, mostly because my dad said I looked crazy with two. There were only three people in the pharmacy area—all masked—so I didn’t have to worry about ducking folks. It helped that the chairs were spaced comfortably apart and the workers periodically wiped down the counters and glass partitions.
After I filled out the paperwork about my medical history, I sat in the waiting area until the pharmacist ushered me into a small “examination” room to get my shot. I digitally signed a consent form on a phone (with my finger) and he gave me a Pfizer leaflet and my vaccination card. Then it was down to business.
The shot itself was nothing more than a tiny prick in my left arm. My mom had warned me that the needle was super long and not to look at it, so I turned my head and prepared for the worse. Blip! It was over. I joked with the pharmacist about how anticlimactic the experience was. Other than some heaviness in my arm and some throbbing, I felt fine as I sat in the waiting area for the required 15 minutes with my dad.
It wasn’t until that night that I started to hurt. My upper arm swelled to twice its size and was hot to the touch. I could only lie on my right side in bed, holding my aching left arm along my leg. Any other position was out of the question. Obviously, I didn’t sleep well that night.
The side effects quickly abated. By the third day, my arm was back to normal. The place where the needle went in remained sensitive if I touched it directly, though.
The Second Shot
I got my second dose of Pfizer towards the end of August. I was nervous about the side effects of this round. The shot didn’t bother my dad at all—nothing ever does—but my mom experienced a lot of pain and drowsiness. Since I tend to take after my mom in these matters, I knew I was in for a rough time.
I arrived at Walmart a few minutes late because of traffic. The slight tardiness actually worked out well for me because I didn’t have long to sit there and fret. I had a different pharmacist than before, a super friendly and informative guy who wore an Apple Watch. He asked me how things went with the first shot, explained which side effects to expect, and reassured me that I won’t need a booster shot for about six months. He also strongly advised that I get a flu shot this year.
Once again, the shot wasn’t a big deal. The pharmacist put it higher up on the same arm, closer to my shoulder area, but I still barely felt it. I did my time in the waiting area and shopped in two different stores without feeling anything in particular.
The pain kicked in by the time I got home. The throbbing was noticeably stronger than the first time. It continued to ratchet up the rest of the day. Every time one of my parents asked me if I was hurting, I would nonchalantly quip, “Yep!” because I didn’t want to be a baby about it. By that evening, I was in such agony that I yelled unprompted, “I am HURTING!” Only a pill brought the pain down to a dull roar.
Things were worse the next day. My entire left side, not just my arm, was visibly swollen. The pain had spread down my elbow and wrist, across my shoulders, and into my armpit and breast. It reminded me of the aching I used to feel from carrying a backpack full of heavy textbooks all day at school. I got on a steady schedule of pain pills at this point, one every four hours. And you best believe I was quickly punished if I forgot to take it on time.
Things settled down little by little. Just as the pain level began to drop to more acceptable levels, the drowsiness kicked in hard. I fell asleep every time I sat down—with my glasses on, which never happens. Fever and chills joined the party soon after. I would wake up with my clothes soaked in sweat.
On top of that, the rumor about the shot affecting one’s menstrual cycle held true for me. Around the second day, my stomach began to cramp hard. The pain had me convinced that my period would come at any second. It went away after about a week. I also experienced enhanced PMS symptoms. The levels of anger and hunger I felt were nowhere near normal for me. To cinch my suspicion, my cycle started about a week earlier than usual and with extra vigor.
Update 5/1/22: The Booster Shot
The end of February 2022 marked six months since I’d gotten my second dose of Pfizer. It was officially time to get my first booster shot. I procrastinated again, this time due to laziness, but I eventually made an appointment for the middle of April. The Walmart pharmacy where I’d gotten my first two shots no longer offers the service, so I had to settle for the second closest location to me.
There was a bit of a wait when I got there because the pharmacy was busy filling prescriptions and there was a guy ahead of me. In the meantime, I filled out some medical history papers and a new form that confirmed my lack of insurance. The clerk then stapled a new vaccination card to my first one.
After the pharmacist administered the shot, my left arm immediately started to hurt. I felt the pain all the way down to my elbow. She put a Band-Aid on the spot and told me to stay put for 5-10 minutes (instead of the usual 15 minutes). I sat there for 10 minutes. Nothing bad happened.
By the time I got home, the pain level and side effects were more or less on par with what I felt after the first shot. Like before, I took a pill and put an ice pack on it for a few minutes. I did get worried when I saw how much blood was on the Band-Aid. I had never seen more than a few drops before. I think it may have bleed more because when I went shopping afterwards, I steered the grocery cart with that arm. However, the bleeding had already stopped by the time I noticed, so I guess no harm was done.
Conclusion
That was my experience getting vaccinated. I’m so blessed that nothing happened to me before I could get the shots. The funny thing is that no one ever asked to see the ID card that I had put off getting. I only needed my birth date and social security number. Although I did need a new card, I’m mad that I probably could have gotten my shots earlier.
In any case, I look forward to stepping out a little bit now. I’ve been wanting to go to the library to pick up items that I can’t order. Don’t worry—I won’t get carried away! I’m still extremely paranoid. I may add rubber gloves to my two masks.