It’s the microchips powering up.
Expect a huge buzz when the next Microsoft updates come down from the Mountaintop. (Not necessarily a good buzz.)
peccaverunt?
I’m British - you know how we are about queueing.
Well done, sir!
j
ETA - Mrs T got her first shot today. They gave her a sticker to wear that says I’ve had my COVID vaccination! Promotional, apparently. Take that, anti-vaxxers!
Microsoft updates are never a good buzz regardless of where they land. Much cursing and knashing of teeth always ensues.
Me! Me! Me! I’ve been vaccinated!
First Pfizer shot, earlier this afternoon, at a CVS about 20 minutes’ drive away from me (which was very near to as close as possible.) Hardly any pain at the shot itself; they said they weren’t using needles as long ‘as they show you on TV.’ Arm currently slightly achy, unless I’m just imagining that, which is possible.
If I have much in the way of additional symptoms (other than an intermittent desire to bounce up and down in joy and relief), I’ll try to report here.
Oh – there was a line, which it took maybe half an hour to get through, not because it was horrendously long (it fit inside one aisle and a bit of the next at 6 feet apart) but because I think there was only one person administering and it took a few minutes per person what with last bits of paperwork (most paperwork had been done online while making the appointment or as you first came in to join the line.) Then they turned you loose in the store and asked you to wait 15 minutes before leaving.
And, after multiple weeks of hassle and uncertainty and ‘no appointments available’: I’d signed up for telephone wait lists at two small local indy pharmacy chains, and both of them called me – one the day after I’d made the CVS appointment, and the other twenty minutes before I left for it. (I’d been going to call them after I actually got the shot.) So after all that no-vaccine-around-here, this week I had at least three chances at it.
First shot was on Tuesday morning. I got the Moderna one. I didn’t really notice much pain at the injection site until yesterday. I also noticed a decent sized knot under the skin at that spot. Late in the day I started really dragging ass.
Today, Thursday, my arm is much less sore and the knot has gotten smaller. Still dragging ass a bit today.
I got my first shot today (Moderna) at a WalMart 110 miles from my house. And literally while I was waiting for my shot, I got an email from the State of Missouri telling me it had finally worked its way down to my name on the waiting list, and if I hurried I could sign up for a shot in eight days only 60 miles from my house. Because this is Missouri, and that’s how we roll.
I don’t have a selfie, but I have the shot.
Due to my profound needle phobia, I was prescribed an anti-anxiety med to take in advance. I was a little loopy when my wife dropped me off at the door to the conference-center-turned-mass-vaccination-site.
As I’ve learned to do, I told everyone I encountered during the process about my reactions to shots: panic attacks, fainting, vomiting, uncontrollable moaning. I really really hate this phobia. The health care workers were AWESOME: they got me an ice pack for my neck, they put me behind a screen, and the shot was complete within about ten seconds of my putting my earbuds in to listen to distracting music.
“That’s not so bad!” I thought. “Maybe I’m over my reac–oh no…” The swirling fizzing panic set in, by far the worst part of getting a shot (it’s not the pain, it’s never the pain).
I closed my eyes, trying real hard to keep my stomach settled, because I was after all wearing two masks. And I managed to keep everything down, but weirdly, there was a hand on my arm, and then one on my other arm, shaking me, and maybe someone was talking to me?
I guess passing out and scaring the health care providers by being unresponsive isn’t the worst that could happen.
They remained awesome, stayed with me, let my wife know what was going on, and fifteen minutes later I was up and out of there. Came home and slept a bunch.
I don’t have a selfie, but I have the shot.
I feel for you. I have had a phobia, and I am still prone to anxiety/panic attacks that come out of nowhere. It’s such a terrible feeling, like being tossed out of an airplane or something (I imagine). It’s hard to explain to people who’ve never had them. I’ve gone to the ER on several occasions with panic attacks, and everyone was always very nice to me. No one ever shamed me or made me feel stupid or like I was a nuisance. Glad you got through it.
Um… there is the second shot to deal with… Then you’ll be home free.
Yeah, I was really hoping that they’d have Johnson & Johnson on tap, but that keg hadn’t come in from the brewers yet.
In general health care workers have been very understanding, especially once I realized they wanted me to pester them about my phobia (before that, it caught some by surprise; they though I just meant I had a normal dislike of needles). The only exception was the ER nurse, when I came in with a concussion because the FluMist dispenser looked too much like a needle and I panicked and stood up too quickly and woke up in a pool of my own blood from where I cracked my head on the floor. She had no patience for my foolishness, but she was the decided exception.
I’m glad you got the vaccine, but the bad news is that CVS and Walgreens are using the opportunity to grab all sorts of customer data and market to them later. (Paywalled Wall Street Journal article here. Vox article here.)
Shoulda gone for it
YOU were awesome too! Just in case no one told you. To face that kind of fear and get through it is incredible. I’m in awe.
You’re very kind, thank you! I shared this story on Facebook in lieu of all the selfies all my teacher friends are posting, so I’m getting plenty of love, but I don’t mind a bit more 
. And I know there’s a lot worse things that can happen; this is just my own pandemic story.
Not a lot of things are worse than facing a phobia fear. Everybody else knows that it isn’t going to kill you, but you don’t. Sure feels like it is going to kill you.
Again, good on you. Hope you at least got a sticker of a super-hero or a lollipop. Thanks for the kind words about nurses and recognizing that we really do want to know when someone is afraid of needles. Knowing is how we can do what we love-taking good care of folks. Shame on that poppy head ER nurse.
What I got was the hell out of there as soon as I could. I haven’t even been able to bring myself to look at the band-aid yet; reminders of the experience aren’t what I want. But my wife took me out for pizza and a Coke afterwards, which was awesome. (I can’t even have a celebratory beer for 5-7 days, because the sedative hangs out in the body for freakin ever.)
Wish I could be there to buy you that brew when you can have it! Here’s the best I can do 
FWIW, pizza is waaaayy better than either a sticker or a lollipop. I settled for MCD’s on the way home from mine because I could easily get it drive-through and the price was right. I’m holding out for pizza for my next jab. Even though I’ll have to plan before hand and get a really good frozen pizza in the freezer ahead of time. Thanks for the 
inspiration.
45-y.o. school employee here. Got the first Pfizer shot today through the health department of the city where I live (Long Beach CA), not through my employer or the county HD where I work (Orange) — they’re a bit behind.
Worst part was waiting in line, in a car, for an hour. This is reportedly twice as long as usual. Moved just often enough to make turning the engine off unworkable unless I wanted to hear horns.
Felt nothing unusual afterwords. I feel like shit, but I usually do, lately, for unrelated reasons. The Army/Reserve folks were uniformly friendly and comforting.
I had tried previously to check for available vaccine at Walgreens, and had indeed run into a demand that in order to even find out if they had any appointments I needed to create an account, agree to accept their emails, and agree that they could do anything with my information that they pleased. I refused to do that.
CVS asked for but didn’t require my email; I didn’t give it. I did have to give them a cell phone number, which makes some sense because they texted me a reminder. All the other info they asked for, with the probable exception of my street address though I do seem to generally have to give that to health care providers, was medically relevant. The only thing I had to agree to was that they’d given me info about the vaccine.
They did make something off me, as I did indeed buy a couple of things while I was in there. But one of them was on sale, and when it turned out I had no account there, instead of pushing me to get one they used a store card to give me the discount. – that might vary from store to store.
I may wind up getting junk from them either on phone or via post office. But they do seem at least somewhat better than Walgreens on this. If I’d known my local independent pharmacy could have given me the shot only two days later, however, I would definitely have gone for that; but I’d already made the CVS appointment when they called me.