Vaccines...

[mistressofmuses]

I managed to get my first vaccine appointment! It's for next Monday, and I have to go to Castle Rock (a bit less than an hour away) to get it, but it's an appointment! I don't know which version I'll get, but it'll be for one of the two-dose types, so either Moderna or Pfizer. I think basically everyone I know has gotten Moderna, except my aunt, I think, who got Pfizer.

A coworker recommended checking Safeway's pharmacy site, and of the four sites I was obsessively refreshing, that is the one that I would up finding an appointment through. (Their site also had the benefit of saving the screening questions for after you searched for a date, so you didn't have to answer the questions over and over just to get "sorry, no appointments, try again later!" cough King Soopers. So if you're trying to get an appointment, and are eligible in your area, try Safeway/Albertsons' pharmacy if you can. It still took me a few days, but they update their availability every 30 minutes.

Taylor just got their first shot yesterday (they've been able to work from home, but are technically considered an essential worker because they work in shipping logistics, so they were in the previous round of eligibility.)

Alex got his second shot today. So far so good, though side effects could still creep in tonight. Nope, scratch that, in the midst of writing this entry he said he felt dizzy, and now he's running a fever of about 100. So I guess it's working!
The first shot knocked Alex out pretty hard, and he slept a lot/more heavily than usual for about three days.

Taylor said they had the "Covid 19 speedrun" last night, where they had a wide range of symptoms, but mostly mild, and felt better by today, except for a really sore arm.

My mom had next to no symptoms from either shot. She was a little tired after the first one, and her neck hurt a bit the day after shot two, but that was when we were driving through a blizzard, so it could have been tension.

My dad said he was extremely tired after both doses, and pretty sore in the arm.

I'm relieved even just to have the appointment, and know I'll feel better once I actually have the shot in my arm. (And get the second dose scheduled.) I'm generally pretty petrified of shots, but this is important, so I'll be a big girl, haha.

Comments

[scarlipswolfwife]

Kathy and I have both had the two shots (I had Moderna, she got Pfizer). I never had a reaction from the second dose, and she got her second dose yesterday and hasn't had a reaction. I just assumed that it was a 50-50 thing of getting a reaction or not and not that having no reaction meant that it didn't work. :(

[galadhir]

What surprised me about the shot was how little like an injection it felt. Until the symptoms kicked in, I was genuinely uncertain about whether they'd actually jabbed me or not. The needle seems smaller than usual, and they put less liquid into you, so you really don't feel it at all at the time. tl/dr the shot itself is a lot less bad than normal shots :)

[mistressofmuses]

Oh, it definitely doesn't mean it wasn't working for you! Sorry - I didn't mean it like that. Just that the reactions people *do* get are caused by their immune system overreacting as it learns its new virus-recognition skills. So yours almost certainly still worked, your immune system just had more chill about it!
Alex's is just giving him the full flu-like experience as it does its work.

[mistressofmuses]

My sibling said the same, that they barely felt the shot itself. So I'm taking comfort in that at least. ;)

[spikedluv]

Yay for having an appointment! I had zero reaction with my first shot (Pfizer), and I've got my fingers crossed that it'll be the same with the second.

[scarlipswolfwife]

Oh good! That's a good thing. My sister did have a little rash on her forehead today that we think is probably a late reaction from her shot because we can't think of what else it would be from, but if that's all she got from it, that's not a bad thing. She hasn't had any fever or aches. Hopefully, Alex feels better soon! I'm told it rarely lasts too long.

[mistressofmuses]

Definitely! And I'm glad you guys didn't get any terrible reactions. A rash is a weird one I hadn't heard of, especially if it wasn't at the injection site, but that definitely seems like the most likely culprit. I hope it doesn't bother her too much!

[mistressofmuses]

Fingers crossed! It seems pretty 50/50. I've had a lot of friends who've said the second one just left them tired, or maybe minorly achey. Even the more severe reactions have mostly been confined to a couple days of feeling sick, so hopefully that's the worst that can happen!