Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has overtaken the globe in ways unimaginable. We all know this. Throughout 2020 we all watched and waited with baited breath for the hope of a mythical vaccine to manifest and rise up, quashing this pandemic and returning us to a more recognizable life. And here we are now, with vaccines created from multiple companies, yet skepticism has not been higher. Many are simply fearful of the unknown: the potential side-effects and whether their effectiveness is worth the trouble. I’m here to say that I’ve been fully vaccinated with absolutely no regrets, and I will tell you *exactly* what the experience was like. No impersonal list of side-effects, no vague jargon, just truth.
Some patient history first to shape my experience: I am a male in my early 30s, 6’ tall, 140lb. I have no underlying conditions and do not take a daily medication. I am a medical employee for a major healthcare network in New York City, and my department was offered one of the first main batches of the Pfizer vaccine. My vaccine acquisition was simple and completely legit, which makes the messy general rollout even more heartbreaking to me. I received two doses: first on 12/23/20 at 2PM and the second exactly three weeks later (right down to the hour!) on 1/13/21 at 2PM.
The Injection Itself
I was honestly surprised at how small the vaccine itself was. Don’t quote my specifics but it looked to only be a 1mL syringe with a 30g needle, which translates into ‘really darn small.’ Absolutely nothing like getting general bloodwork done, and smaller than any other shot I’ve ever received. It was probably similar to getting a botox injection as it used the same kind of delivery, only this was one shot in the shoulder rather than multiple shots across the face. The first dose I felt very briefly, but I’m not kidding when I say I didn’t feel the second shot whatsoever. I used to be awful with needles: I was the kid that would run through the pediatrician’s office petrified of the doctor. My tolerance increased significantly with age and maturity, but still the Covid-19 vaccine has been the most painless shot(s) I’ve ever taken.
It’s important to note that both doses of the vaccine are the same exact thing. I was personally mistaken to think the first shot was the protein spikes and the second shot was more ‘lively’ but that is not the case. You cannot get Covid-19 from the vaccine, because there is no coronavirus in the vaccine. It is simply the mRNA (recipe) for the virus’ spikes, which they use to latch onto healthy cells to infect. By giving your body the alert to destroy anything that has these spikes, the coronavirus doesn’t have a chance to cause trouble. The coronavirus will still be around but it will be neutralized, and this is how the pandemic will end.
After the First Dose
If the first dose is like installing a sprinkler system in a building, the second dose is like testing the system to make sure it works. Ergo, the first dose is not designed to really cause any side-effects, it’s just the installation. For the remainder of the first day I had no fever, no body aches, no fatigue. Nothing. On the 24th and 25th however, the injection site was significantly sore. Nothing debilitating but very noticeable, even more than from the flu shot. But by the 26th on it eventually subsided.
After the Second Dose
Oh boy. This is where you hear all the horror stories about the vaccine. The second dose is a full-on test of the sprinkler system, so naturally the effects will be more significant. These effects are basically your autoimmune response at work, so it’s important to remember that. These are not symptoms brought on by Covid. After receiving the second shot the day went on like normal, but that evening I felt the oddest joint pain sensations that I never felt before.
It was almost like my body was ‘testing’ random joints to make sure they could feel pain. For a few minutes, a joint would ache. Then the pain would subside and for a few minutes a different joint would ache. This went on for the evening and into the next day. It was such a strange phenomenon: my left wrist would ache, then the second toe joint on my right foot. Then my right shoulder, followed by my left hip. The ache was tolerable but noticeable, just enough to feel uncomfortable but nothing requiring aspirin or even an ‘ow!’
The following day, 1/14, along with the random joint tests, I overall felt like I got hit by a car. And I say car because it wasn’t as bad as getting hit by a truck. I had a slight fogginess and never fully woke up. However, it was not enough to keep me from going into work (including its grueling 2-hour mass transit commute) and performing my job satisfactorily. I just felt ‘off’ in a way I couldn’t quite describe. I did go to bed earlier than usual that night, which was unlike my night owl tendancies.
Interestingly, injection site soreness returned after the second dose but wasn’t nearly as bad as from the first dose.
Two days after the second shot, 1/15, I woke up feeling 100% with no lingering effects from the previous day. Nothing. It was as if nothing from the previous days had ever happened.
My Additonal Thoughts
It’s very interesting that the vaccine’s effects mimic those of Covid, because it shows that the disease’s symptoms are not brought on by the virus itself, but by the body’s response to it. Hopefully this helps us understand the virus better, as it seems that it’s our immune response that does more damage than the actual virus inflicts.
Despite fever being the most common reported side-effect, I never developed one after either dose. Neat, huh?
After giving the second dose another week to ‘cook,’ Pfizer’s vaccine boasts an immunity rate well into the 90s. No vaccine is ever 100% effective, and the other Covid vaccines follow suit with similar very high rates. This is as good as we could’ve hoped for if not more, so don’t wait for something better to come along. This is it, and anyone who says otherwise simply doesn’t understand the ethos of vaccines, so don’t listen to them, regardless of their credentials if any.
When you get your first dose, do not ignore getting the second. What’s the good of installing a sprinkler system if you never test it?
Anyone that claims they came down with Covid from the vaccine was simply infected organically before the dose was administered. The disease has a latent period of a few days before showing itself and this is just a situation of unfortunate coincidental timing. Nothing more. That is why it is imperative to stay vigilant before receiving your first dose and giving yourself a week or so after your second dose. By then you're as immune as you'll ever be.
There’s a lot of chatter about Covid variants, and the vaccine losing its effectiveness over time. These are not faults of Pfizer but simply a truth about the nature of viruses and vaccines. Many diseases require boosters (tetanus, etc.) and we get the flu shot annually anyway without batting an eye, knowing full well their effectiveness rates fluctuate wildly. Covid will just be another ingredient they add into the cocktail and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Anyone ‘concerned about what’s being but into their bodies’ never seemed to care before it was trendy to do so and still don’t care about the other unhealthy/toxic substances they eat or use. Yes, ingredient awareness is nice, but attacking vaccines, especially this one which is the key to the resumption of life, is definitely barking up the wrong tree. Where’s all this outrage regarding the unpronounceable ingredients used in shampoos, for example? How do you know you’re not massaging poisons into your scalp? That’s because you (and social media) don’t know and don’t care, because it gives your hair that nice shine. You also trust the companies that make it, regardless of their ratings, and given the global recognition of Pfizer, Moderna and others, they would not put their reputation on the line and intentionally harm users with such a vaccine. What’s in it for them to do that? And if you think they ‘oh well they just don’t know yet what could happen, it’s too early,’ keep in mind they’ve been focus testing for months prior to announcing their vaccine to the world. They knew then, and we were the ones that didn’t. That’s how this all works, and that’s really okay. As they continue to do their part for the good of the world, you continue to do yours whatever that may be. Eventually it all comes together.
Another fact that many seem to overlook is that the vaccine will theoretically protect us from all coronaviruses by its inherent nature. A coronavirus is simply a virus that uses those protein spikes to latch onto its host, and the vaccine is strictly of those spikes alone. This should in theory not only protect us from the ‘novel coronavirus’ (aka this new virus that causes the disease SARS-CoV-2, aka Covid-19) but from other coronaviruses as well, including those that infect us with the common cold. Any virus using spikes is targeted by this vaccine, including basic cold viruses. So yes, there’s a solid chance that by trying to eradicate Covid-19 we stumbled upon the actual cure for the common cold. And honestly, who wouldn’t want a vaccine for that?! Perhaps you’d see a lot less tepidation surrounding this if it were marketed in this way.
If vaccines may have scared you before, they should not anymore. Times have changed, and medicine has changed. Think of all the advancements made in things like cancer treatment, HIV management, medical imaging, joint replacements and so much more… many drugs and therapies have only come around in the past few years and have been accepted by all with open arms. Vaccines have gotten better right along with them, yet many have a problem with them due to vocal minorities making odd and indirect correlations. And by following along with these connections, people feel somehow empowered when really this energy is better spent elsewhere. The truth is that no one is out to get *you* by giving you a bad vaccine.
The Covid-19 vaccine is safe and one of the most effective vaccines ever created. It is a staggering medical triumph and I would do it all again in a heartbeat if I needed to. Any fears you have about it, especially if they’re amplified by self-affirming social media, are unfounded. Get both doses and just take the day off after the second dose, that’s all. Just take a break. You might have a better day after than I did, or maybe a little worse. Or the exact same. By the following day, it’ll be fine. And you’ll be fine. We’ll be back to normal one person at a time.
The Bottom Line
All we wanted a year ago from now was a safe and effective vaccine to this global terror, and that's exactly what we have here today. After the hell that was this past year, now isn’t the time for misguided pride. Or wanting to feel like you think you somehow ‘know better.’ Take solace in the fact that you don’t, and that all we in our little microcosms want to do is go back to a life of recreation and no masks. The Covid-19 vaccine will let us do that.
If we let it.
