Today is a highly anticipated day: I am getting my first COVID vaccine dose! After months of waiting since the vaccines were approved for emergency use, I finally get my turn at this big step in returning to normalcy. The sense of relief was palpable when the appointment confirmation came through. With the second dose marked for mid March, I’m in the endgame now.
My eligibility for the vaccine is predicated on me working at San Francisco State University. The first tier of people eligible were those over the age of 65, and healthcare workers. Education is lumped into the next tier - tier 1B - because I guess they really are trying to open back up the schools as quickly as possible. Tier 1B came in effect yesterday, and I was lucky to snatch an appointment for the following day.
I am to receive the Pfizer vaccine, and it’ll be interesting to see if I experience any adverse symptoms. Anecdotally, people I know who got the Moderna vaccine had a rough time with COVID-like symptoms for the few days after the shot. Those that got Pfizer seems to be okay for the most part. It’s probably idiosyncratic to the individual, rather than which company of vaccine. Obviously, I don’t care which one I get, and neither should anyone. The goal is to vaccinate as many as possible.
I reckon the Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccine is going to be the next game changer.
It takes two weeks for the vaccine to take full effect, so I reckon by early April I’ll be fully shielded from COVID. That’s an exciting thought, and I look forward to going outside and doing stuff with way more impunity - vis a vis the virus - than I’ve done the past year.
Grocery shopping with my dad.