World/National News
mal: COVID-19 Vaccines COVID-19 Vaccination Experience By: Isabel Taveras
This pandemic has surely created a lot of uncertainty when it comes to vaccines and their effectiveness. To rid you all of some doubts you may have, here are some frequently asked questions answered by a NYC health provider. Disclaimer, the health provider is not a COVID-19 professional. Besides facts, her responses also include opinions. When will everyone get vaccinated? “ I think it will take a while, hopefully by the summer I would say. As we’ve heard on the news, now we have an issue because we don’t have enough vaccines. So, that’s prolonging the process and it’s difficult for people to get the appointments if we don’t have enough vaccines. But if they increase the production of the vaccines, hopefully we can get everyone vaccinated much quicker.” For more information, visit https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/frequently-asked-questions-0.
Does the vaccine make me get COVID? “No. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines do not contain SARS-CoV-2 and cannot give you COVID-19.” Has the vaccine displayed any unintended side effects to those who took it? “These vaccines are new, so the tests and observations are based on the
last few months. We do not know what’s going to happen in a year, or in five years or ten years because the vaccine has not been around for that long. So, what we have seen is that with the Moderna [vaccine], some people have gotten some allergic reactions. They had to stop administering it for a while but there is still research to be done for all vaccines.”
subject to having different reactions to the vaccine. If you feel any concerning side effects, consider contacting your doctor immediately. For more information, visit https:// covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/what-youneed-know.
First Dose Experience “I got my first dose on 12/23/2020. In December, many people were reAre common allergies an issue in or- fusing [the vaccine] so there were a lot of open appointment slots. der to get the vaccine? “Common allergies are not a contra- For my first dose, I didn’t have any indication for the COVID-19 vac- symptoms. I didn’t have a fever, I cine. But if you had an anaphylactic didn’t have any pain in my arm. No reaction, which is a severe allergic symptoms whatsoever. Compared reaction to a previous vaccine, then to the flu shot, the first dose was you are at a higher risk for having an more or less the same.” anaphylactic reaction to the Covid vaccine. So [nurses] need to observe Second Dose Experience “My second dose was scheduled for you for a longer time.” January 12th. At that time the waitAre there benefits that the Pfizer ing time was longer, there were a vaccine has that Moderna doesn’t lot more people getting the vaccine. From what I could see, it was much have or vice versa? “They both use messenger RNA, more difficult to get an appointment. but they have different components. For the second dose, I had pain in They are both about 95% effective, my arm that extended to my back so there is not much difference be- and neck. But I believe it was between one or the other.” For more cause the vaccine was injected a litinformation, visit https://covid19vac- tle too high in the muscle. The pain cine.health.ny.gov/frequently-asked-ques- started about two or three hours after the injection. But the next day tions-0. I decided to take pain medication Vaccination Experiences Here is a little bit of backstory about and in an hour I started to feel much the NYC health provider’s vaccina- better. I also had some swelling that tion experiences. DISCLAIMER: took a few days to subside. I didn’t everyone is different and everyone is have body aches or fever.”
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