Vaccinated!

by Joni Kamiya, Hawaii Farmers Daughter, January 6, 2021

Like so many others in healthcare, I have been patiently waiting to get vaccinated against COVID-19. I had no doubt in my mind to pass this opportunity by. We are in the midst of a pandemic where over 350,000 lives have been lost. That is a heartbreaking number to realize the amount of human loss in less than a year.

I have been advocating for science for a very long time and I will not stop. Science is a process to help us figure out things and solve problems. It is how we are going to get out of this pandemic and get life back to normal.

To help alleviate fear or hesitancy around this vaccine, I will be sharing my experience following my injection to be open and transparent about what effects I get from it.

I was fortunate to get an appointment the very next day I called at my local Kaiser Clinic. I am thrilled to be able to get this but also sad knowing how many never had a chance against this disease. I got my shot at 2:11 pm and did the 15 min wait with only tenderness at the site. I will be blogging more on this post as things happen or not.

1/5/21 6:14 pm

It has been 4 hours since I had my shot and my left arm is achy but no other issues. I’m still reveling in the fact that I was able to take it.

1/6/21 7:00 am

Woke up feeling like my arm could not work. Had left shoulder pain and could not lift arm over my head. No fever or fatigue. Just an achy arm.

1/6/21 5:27 pm

It has been over 24 hours since I received the short. My arm hurts a lot less than this morning but I have started getting some mild headaches.

1/7/21

Arm pain is present but mild allowing me to use it. Still having mild headaches and some fatigue.

1/8/21

No arm pain and headaches. Fatigue is resolved. Back to normal!

My experience pretty much reflects the data collected during the trials. I did not have a fabulous story to tell on my vaccination experience.

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My Body, My Choice Part 2

From Hawaii Farmer’s Daughter, 1/26/21

Today I received my second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at 2:10 pm HST.

My arm is a bit achy and heavy feeling. My appetite is a bit down from feeling a little bit tired. It might just be from running around to get my neighbor vaccinated and going to the market. No fevers.

8 hours since receiving the second dose:

No fever but nausea and headache. Arm is sore. Feeling a bit wiped out. Took 2 extra strength Tylenols with some relief in arm pain.

I know this is nothing compared to a full blown COVID infection.

20 hours post second dose:

Tylenol is working. No arm pain and nausea is gone. Feel a bit tired but not bad that I can’t work.

26 hours post Pfizer covid vaccine:

No more nausea. Mild arm ache with movement at the shoulder. Feeling some fatigue this afternoon. Still no appetite but I forced myself to eat a little.