COVID-19 Update, Monday, April 12th

A quick but important correction, perspective on the J&J vaccine, a note about my vaccine experience, and a thought on which vaccine is right for you.

1. CORRECTION: Friday I had a typo in my post that was significant. Very significant so I want to correct that publically. The 5% chance of infection should have been .5%, not 5% that is a huge difference and I apologize for the error. Long days. Nevertheless, if you have a vaccine that is 95% effective it means it reduces your risk by 95% leaving you a 0.5% risk of infection. We are measuring risk reduction here not risk. Thank you to Brian for asking about that so I could see the typo and correct it. I have updated that post as well.

2. I know there are some concerns regarding the J&J vaccine and blood clots. Because AZ and J&J are both adenovirus vaccines we may find there is indeed some connection, but to keep things in perspective for the J&J one, there have been 4 cases of blood clots out of 4 million doses given. So one in a million chance. It is worth investigating, and we for sure should, but I am not concerned about it just yet. In fact, I got that vaccine this weekend.

3. I got the J&J vaccine this weekend so I just wanted to share my experience. I was nervous. Of course I was, I am only human after all. I told my husband when he dropped me at the door, "if something bad happens, I want you to tell people I am still supportive of the vaccine" because I am. I went to a pharmacy and the pharmacist was great. He warned me the medicine would burn when it went in because it was cold. It did. Not horribly but I felt it. I am not needle squeamish so I should disclose that. I waited 15 minutes, stood slowly (because I am aware some folks faint after the J&J one) and I was good. I had to give them my insurance but there was no charge (at least not to me). I went grocery shopping afterwards and I will say I had to empty my bladder much more than normal (about once every 45 minutes - give or take). I took note of it. The frequent urination led to me getting a little dehydrated. I was drinking water and eventually began drinking propel water as fast as I could but the bladder was quicker than me. So that was a thing. My arm was sore to the touch (not awful just tender) and when I went to bed I couldn't sleep on that side because it was uncomfortable. I got up about 6 times during the night to empty my bladder. When I got up in the morning I scoured the literature for something related to that but I could not find anything (if you find something let me know). Google revealed that I was not the only one to search it, so that must be a thing even if not officially recognized. Sunday (the day after my shot) I felt tired. Not, oh I need to sleep all day tired, but more of a lazy tired. You know the sit on the couch and do nothing sort? So I took it easy, drank tons of water, and made lots of trips to the ladies' room. I had a little fever but I only know that because I checked it out of curiosity (99.9). I did not feel sick. I did get a little headache and I took ibuprofen and it went away. Last night I slept better and was even able to roll onto the arm I got the shot in. I am still making more trips to the loo so I am also drinking more water than normal to stay hydrated. Someone I know also got the vaccine this weekend (same one and same place) but they feel a bit worse. Fever, chills, malaise, pretty bad headache. So it really seems to be very specific to the individual. I am 48 hours in and so far, so good. I was able to go to the gym this morning. I did tire pretty quickly so I cut it short. If you have gotten the vaccine I would love to hear which one and how you did with it - feel free to share in the comments.

4. Because I got the J&J one people have been asking me two things pretty consistently, a) can you pick which one you get and b) is J&J the one I think is best. The answer to the first is yes - you can pick. If you go to https://vaccinefinder.org/ you put in your zip code and then you can select which vaccine you want. It will show you who is offering it and let you schedule from there. If you have no preference you just select all three and voila. Easypeasy. The answer to the second question is that I got J&J because of 3 things: 1) one and done - this has appeal to me, 2) my husband can't get Pfizer or Moderna so I wanted to "test run" the J&J one before him and 3) the J&J one was tested amid the variants and found to work well even against them. However, I do not recommend one over the other and actually plan to use Pfizer for my children. Each vaccine has pros and cons and more importantly, we all have different histories and circumstances. I think the best vaccine is the one that is best for you. You have to evaluate your situation and select the option that is right for you.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Today I went to the gym and for the first time since this all began I did not cringe when I saw another human in the shared space. Typically I am alone - like completely alone, it's me and the woman who runs the desk (and she is vaccinated). But occasionally I see someone and I always adjust my workout to be in a different room than them. But today, I saw yet another woman and she was someone I knew was recently vaccinated (she was so excited the day she got it so she told me). So there we were, three vaccinated people. Now I realize I am not immune yet, but just knowing I was vaccinated and they were too gave me a sense of peace that I haven't had in quite a while and it felt amazing. "Normal" is out there folks, and hopefully, we will find it. I was a little nervous going in to get my vaccine because 1 out of every 1 million people will have a serious reaction - and nothing says that 1 can't be me. So I want to say this to you - being nervous is totally ok. It's normal. It's human. Courage is expressed in the midst of fear. But more importantly, you have to do what is right for you. You have to feel good about your decision and no one else should make that for you.