A little over a year into the pandemic and its pitfalls, we finally found ourselves rolling up our sleeves for a dose of what felt like pure relief. With vaccine eligibility opening up to in-person student workers, we booked an appointment that looked like nothing out of the ordinary — after all, every college student is no stranger to the flu or tetanus shot. However, there was no familiar apprehension leading up to this vaccine. Every person we encountered at the vaccine clinic seemed just as giddy as we did to receive the first or second dose of what public health officials have heralded as an incredible feat of modern medicine.
If you’re even the slightest bit concerned about getting the COVID-19 vaccine, whether it be the result of mixed messages or a plain old fear of needles, we urge you to get your shot as soon as you’re eligible. So in order to encourage folks into getting the vaccine, we decided to document how our first dose went:
Sam Overton: As someone who couldn’t even look at the needle when I got my first tattoo, shots have always brought a particular feeling of dread. To this day, I’ll do anything to distract myself from even the most routine vaccines — from blasting Taylor Swift to closing my eyes and humming, any diversion is key. That being said, as soon as I was eligible, I booked the closest possible appointment and immediately called my family to tell them the good news. The unthinkable had happened: I was overjoyed to have reserved a time for a nurse to stick a needle in my arm.
I had carved out about an hour and a half of my day to get vaccinated, but I was in and out in less than 30 minutes. As a fortuitous show of strength to my needle-fearing self, I barely felt the needle go in as I thought about getting lunch with my grandmother over the summer. The beaming nurse took my picture next to a massive “Dose of Hope” sign after my 15 minutes of post-vaccine observation, and I walked out of the vaccine clinic shortly after, grinning ear to ear.
Caryl Espinoza Jaen: I’ve never been a fan of going to the doctor’s office. There’s just something about the chilly, empty atmosphere of a hospital that I’ve always found depressing, and now more than ever, I try to only go to the doctor for two reasons: When it’s absolutely necessary or when I suddenly feel like I’m physically spiraling. Thankfully, getting my first dose of Moderna fits in the former, so once I was able to book an appointment in Chapel Hill, I skipped my favorite class of the semester to go to one of my least favorite places on Earth.
When I got to the vaccination site, a friendly doctor quickly greeted me, checked me in and popped a needle in my arm faster than I could blink. After the NASCAR-like pace of getting the actual shot, I was led to a lobby to wait for a few minutes in case I was one of the incredibly rare and unlucky few who had an allergic reaction to the Moderna vaccine. Thankfully, the only thing that happened to me during that wait time was a mindless scroll through Twitter. Once the time was up I was allowed to enter the outside world once again, except this time I had some protection against the virus that took away so much of our lives.
With both vaccine developers and distributors being as careful as possible, we’re both confident in encouraging our peers in getting the vaccine, especially after getting the first dose ourselves. It’s safe, it’s efficient and it gives us a shot (pun intended) at achieving herd immunity and finally ending this pandemic. Now it’s up to us to get our doses in and say goodbye to COVID-19 for good.
