Over the past almost three years of living through COVID, I’ve learned (just as everyone else has) about how essential accessible public health information and policy is for the safety of all. America has obviously had the worst response of any country to COVID because no matter who’s President, the fake US state is beholden to capitalism over anything else and capitalism requires inequity, racism, and profits for corporations, lobbyists, and billionaires over anything else. D*nald Tr*mp’s malicious botch of a COVID reaction was no different from that of J*e B*den and his promise to end the pandemic without retroactive recurring stimulus checks, federal aid for small businesses and unemployed people, or a shut down country. Although COVID vaccines and booster shots are now widely available, there are still folks who refuse to be vaccinated.
The world is bordering on 6 million deaths throughout the pandemic and somehow absolutely nothing in our society has changed for the better. Despite COVID being the perfect opportunity to fundamentally transform how we live, work, travel, interact, and take care of ourselves and each other, the government truly failed us all since 2020. One of the worst parts of living through the pandemic has been realizing how many folks do not care about other people and are gleefully spreading misinformation about COVID itself and the different vaccines. I was “fully vaccinated” (pre-booster shots) almost exactly one year ago and I think it’s important to share accurate anecdotes about my experience and how I’m neither magnetic nor full of 5G tech/aborted fetuses/Bill Gates’ microchips/etc and I of course did not die after receiving both shots.
I was fully vaccinated with both Moderna shots one year ago and as soon as I was eligible, I got my booster shot at an open clinic. The vaccines were not as simple for me as a shot without any reactions. When I got the first shot at the end of January 2021, I felt pain in my arm about an hour after the dose. My arm pain was consistent and throbbing all night and seven hours later, I was suddenly the most exhausted ever and I could barely drive home and take a shower without falling asleep. I slept basically all day and had bad arm pain for three subsequent days. I knew the second dose of Moderna would make me feel even worse as I had heard stories and read articles about the symptoms from the last shot. I got my second vaccine on a March afternoon again and didn’t have instant arm pain, but I slept as soon as I got home for the next day. I was extremely exhausted, nauseated, cold, sore all over my body, and sporadically feverish. I took extra strength Tylenol three times a day the following two days and was mostly affected by my exhaustion/weakness and nausea. I had my booster shot at the end of November and I was exhausted and a little sore again, but the symptoms weren’t as bad as my original vaccines.
I only share my experience being vaccinated for COVID because I know people who still refuse the vaccine and some of them have shared extremely harmful false information about the reactions/effects. Of course some folks choose to not be vaccinated in general due to medical reasons (negative/severe reactions to vaccine ingredients, allergies, underlying medical conditions, etc), but there are lots of people who can and should get vaccinated and haven’t yet. Hopefully sharing my experience with people I know will encourage at least one person to protect themselves and others from COVID. And now that every state is lifting all mandates and establishing a free for all in this still ongoing pandemic, being fully vaccinated makes me feel a little safer continuing to go to work in person and to visit my sister and best friends in Texas soon (of course I still have my mask on everywhere I go)!
