Words can’t really express how relieved I am to get my second COVID-19 vaccine shot. I had a couple of reflections while driving out to Forsyth County to get the injection, including my own mortality. I have suffered most of my life with ridiculously annoying exercise-induced asthma. It’s been nothing more than a nuisance to this point, but when I’ve gotten sick, it’s made my situation much more difficult.
Bronchial infections have been the worst. A couple of bouts with pneumonia have been incredibly troublesome, but never did I fear losing my life as much as I have this past year. It makes me downright angry that we are only now hitting three million vaccines per day. The vaccinations and mask-wearing are indisputable when we talk about stopping the spread of this remarkably lethal virus. Unfortunately, we now know we didn’t have to lose more than 550,000 American souls. And yet we still continue to see new spikes around the country, complacency and vaccine hesitancy slow the return to normalcy. Frankly, I would have taken both vaccines on back to back days if needed and it was going to work properly. I just can’t understand why people would risk their lives or the lives of someone they
love to buck the system or support a political position.
I was amazed as both times we visited the medical facility there was little to no waiting period and a steady stream of people coming though. From check in to triage to injection was literally minutes. Smooth sailing is an understatement. I literally looked at my watch as we were getting out of the car and in less than 10 minutes I was in the waiting room after getting my injection. This is the America
we know and love and expect. And I keep hearing that same story from people all over Metro Atlanta.
As for my shot it was a little more painful than the first. I woke up with soreness on the second. It was tender to the touch and almost painful. But, because I had heard the second shot was going to bring about some of the symptoms, or some discomfort, I prepared by taking some pain reliever about an hour prior to the injection and that really seemed to help. My wife was hampered by some
injection site soreness and some body aches. It probably bothered her for a couple of days, but nothing too serious, I mean she didn’t even miss a workout. So it couldn’t have been too bad.
My son was also vaccinated the same day and didn’t feel a thing. He left to join a team to continue his professional hockey career in Birmingham. I felt so incredibly relieved again that he’s vaccinated and has that layer of protection as he goes into arenas and stadiums and is within close proximity of teammates and coaches and fans. Although the crowds are not very large, you cannot be too careful. And he’s pretty sure the team he played for last spring had an outbreak that ran through the team and had them so short players they could barely get a practice in. He shared with us that it was an awful experience for all the players.
While we are all in a rush to get back to normal, we must continue best practices. We must mask up. We must continue to follow the recommendations of some of the best medical professionals in the world. Not one more person needs to die needlessly. Please be careful, be mindful and stay hopeful.
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