After several false starts and schedule scrambles, Friday was the finally the day of my first COVID injection.
It’s hard now to even put this moment in context. I’ve seen lots of people I know excitedly getting the shot, and now it was finally going to be my turn. The first real step out of the depths of the pandemic. After living and writing about this relative quarantine condition for almost 400 days, it is really surreal to think that the first hint of the light at the end of the tunnel might finally be appearing.
I was originally supposed to get the Johnson & Johnson one this week, and was frankly feeling good about the one and done nature of that one, but from the beginning I’ve told myself that I will be thankful for whatever I can get, whenever I can get it. Going in, I only knew that I would be getting one of the two-dose vaccines, and that is A-OK. Yes, it extends the time before I’m fully vaccinated, but I’ve waited this long, what’s a few more weeks?
I got some things done in the morning, then ran my weekly errands before the appointment, just in case I wound up feeling side effects. I figured it best to blank out the next day, just in case.
I got to the clinic a few minutes early and got myself checked in. It was an extremely quick and efficient process. I got the Pfizer vaccine, and was in and out in about 10 minutes, even set up with an appointment for my second shot on May 7. I walked out feeling awesome.
They asked everyone to wait in their cars for about 15 minutes to make sure there was no dizziness or anything. If so, I was supposed to honk my horn and a nurse would come out. Fortunately, there was no need for honking. Other than a sore arm, I was feeling A-OK.
So I headed home and got back to work for a while, then walked with Amelia to school to pick up Henry. We had gotten several inches of snow the previous night, and the kids had fun playing in the snow along the way home.
We ordered some pizza for dinner, and I continued to monitor my overall state. I felt a little tired, but I honestly don’t know if that was from the vaccine or from being the 47-year-old father of two small kids on a Friday.
I’m sure I’ll write more about this after my second dose, but I feel like it hasn’t really sunk in yet that I’m on the path to vaccination. It always felt like a far away thing. It’s only a step, but it is a step. A step toward being back out in the world with more confidence, and a step toward something more like normal life from the before time. I still don’t have any conception of how that will feel. My hunch is it will be at times euphoric and at times scary. But I guess I will happily cross that bridge when I get to it.
