Once food service workers were classified as essential workers, I was able to sign up for a COVID vaccine. With the vaccine being so new and the long term effects unknown, I was very skeptical of what I was in for. But, after thinking it over, I decided that being in pandemic was dangerous enough and I’d rather be safe than sorry. Â
The entire vaccination process was very simple and easy. To sign up, all I had to do was prove that I had insurance and that I had a fit essential worker status. After that, I just selected a time slot and was ready to go. When I got to the vaccination facility, I was directed where to park and where to enter the building. After that, I was given a general information form to fill out and led to the vaccination room. There was no line or waiting when I arrived and I got vaccinated within five minutes after arriving. The vaccination alone was nothing more than a regular shot that you’d get at the doctor. After being vaccinated, I was asked to wait in a waiting area for about 15 minutes to make sure I had no serious side effects. Â
After I was excused to go from the waiting area, I left and went about my day like normal. Throughout most of the day, I felt pretty normal. I had no symptoms and felt completely healthy. Around 6:00 or 6:30, I went and got dinner with my friends. During dinner, I still felt fine and had no symptoms. Afterwards, however, I started to feel a headache coming. I stayed for about 30 minutes after I started to feel a headache, but then decided to go back to my room, drink some tea, and went to bed early with the hopes of feeling better the next morning. Â
When the next morning came, however, my hopes did not come true. Right when I woke up, I felt a heavy headache, nauseous, and felt like I had a fever. When I got the vaccine, they said that it was possible for me to have flu-like symptoms that would last one to three days. To make my symptoms last as short as possible, I made sure to really rest for the entire day. That day, I slept, drank A LOT of water, had a lot of electrolytes, and made sure that I ate healthy food that would help my body recover. I also took acetaminophen to help reduce the headache and fever. That night, I went to bed at about 8:30 pm to make sure that I got a lot of sleep so my body was able to heal. Overall, it felt like I had the flu for the day, but it was nothing unbearable and I was able to handle it very easily. Â
The next morning, I felt completely fine. I still took it easy that day and was sure to not overdo it because I knew that my body still needed a day to recover. I did a light workout just to get my body moving, but not too much to exhaust my body. I still made sure to eat healthy foods to help my body recover, drank plenty of water and electrolytes, and rested by body. By Saturday, I felt like myself again. I was able to workout and feel good, didn’t feel slow, nauseous, or have a headache. I was back to my regular, normal self. Â
Overall, I recommend getting the COVID vaccine. It’s a safe option and a good way to help end the pandemic. Thankfully, I was able to get my vaccine by fitting the status of an essential worker. The injection didn’t hurt anymore than a regular shot and the symptoms were manageable. The day after my vaccine, I had flu-like symptoms that were very manageable. Two days after my vaccine, I felt back to normal, but still a little bit slow. By the third day after my vaccine, I felt completely like myself and had no symptoms or side effects. Â