I Got Vaccinated—Now What?

Living in a household where I am the person most at risk for getting COVID while also having  family members that worked directly with COVID-infected patients, I knew getting vaccinated wasn’t a question. It was either get it and be a little bit safer or don’t, and prepare for the worst. I had already gotten COVID back in November 2020 and after ten days of sweating through feverish nightmares and not being able to even crawl myself out of bed, I just knew that I never wanted to catch that again.

Despite controversy online about the vaccine’s validity I was confident enough in my own research to trust this was the right decision for me, so when the opportunity came to book an appointment I jumped at the chance. Securing an appointment wasn’t easy when I first tried at the end of February. I heard about friends finding last minute appointments, but I couldn’t book one for myself. The site kept kicking me off despite my listing that I had chronic asthma and was a high-risk person. A family friend initially requested one for me and the earliest date I would be able to get it was the end of May, nearly two months away. With two family members working directly with COVID and my asthmatic history, I was stressed.

Two weeks into waiting for the vaccine, while hearing horror stories about long lines and data mix-ups with appointments, a friend randomly turned to me while we were out together and shouted, “You’re eligible! You want this appointment tomorrow morning?”

To my surprise, there was a clinic nearby that was seeing less people show up for vaccines, and while it technically was still not open to just anybody (only people with certain health conditions were allowed to get vaccinated at that point), its workers were looking for people who were in pressing need. So in the span of about seven minutes, my friend signed me up to get the shot.

When I received my second dose of the Moderna vaccine the clinic was basically empty, and what had taken nearly two hours to do the first time around only took about 45 minutes. It was a blessing, really. I didn’t have significant side effects; my arm could move just fine! I had no fever or headache and didn’t even need to lie down once that whole weekend.

Although the CDC recommends being cautious for two weeks after the second dose to make sure the vaccine is effective in your system, I felt safe having that extra barrier of protection.

New York state has announced plans for fully opening up in the near future. It sounds fantastic, but I can’t help but feel it’s a bit ambitious because only 40% of the total population has had their full two-dose vaccination. If scientists say the only sure way to return to full normalcy is having a large amount of the population vaccinated, where does that leave us when many people are still scared to get the vaccine, or just simply don’t care to get it?

If the best thing for the country is a fully vaccinated population, but that’s not an option, are we stuck with masking it up for life? Can we be okay with that, especially as our government pushes life to return back to pre-COVID conditions?

There’s a disconnect between what we want and where we are. For example, some people think the fully vaccinated should automatically ditch mask-wearing, which I think is cringey. Some think we should be thrilled to have the chance to not wear a mask and “be free” but it’s not that simple. Even though the CDC had announced relaxed mask policies, I’ll still be wearing one for extra precaution. 

A large piece of the pandemic is that individual actions ultimately affect the public health of the collective. So, I can do everything in the world to stay protected, but if my neighbor decides to be careless and expose themselves, one interaction with them can end up with me getting sick again and possibly ending up in worse condition, and vice versa. If I relax and decide to travel, party and live life normally, I may accidentally pass along the virus to someone with a weaker immune system and no real protection from the virus.

Despite being fully vaccinated, I don’t feel 100% safer or like this situation is fully coming to an end. If anything, I’m seeing the beginning of future problems: continued debate about whether institutions can force people to get vaxxed, and what’s the best and safest way to move toward a new normal. I don’t know if we’re at the stage where we should fully open, but I’m moving forward by doing my part in trying to stay safe and healthy. I can only hope my neighbors, friends, family members, coworkers and everyone else near me does their part in keeping others safe too.