In my last post, I said I was basically debating whether or not to get the COVID Vaccine or not. I try and stay away from politics in my posts here but the truth of the matter is for the Past year, government official on both sides of the aisle have politicized every aspect of anything deal with COVID.
When you hear a member of Congress or state government stand up and speak about COVID, you can rest assured that they are talking out of both sides of their mouth. They are not concerned with doing what's best for the Country, or for you and I. The are only concerned with how they can get reelected. So a long time ago I stopped listening, I stopped watching the news, and I haven't watched, listens or read anything coming for the governors office or any other source connected with government.
From the get go, very little truth has come out of Richmond and even less truth has come out of Washington. Some of my friends said the in order to make an informed decision I needed listen to the Health Department. But when you get right down to it, the Health Department is a State Funded Agency and they are only going to promote the agenda of the political party that is in power. To do other wise would result in a significant lose of funding.
So over the last few weeks, I have talked with several members of my health care team. I trust these people and I really appreciate that they took the time to talk very candid and at great length with me about the different COVID Vaccines that have been approved.
All of the Independent Health Care Providers that I talked too, started out saying that any decision would be a very personal one. But the most important thing almost all of the doctors and nurses that I spoke too said was, Don't base my decision on what I hear are read in the news media, and to take anything coming out of Richmond and Washington with a grain of salt.
A few of the people that I talked too ever gave me some information from independent sources that they hoped would help me to make the most informed decision. All of the health care provided told me that the vaccine will NOT Prevent anyone from getting COVID. But if I did get COVID, the vaccine would greatly enhance my body's ability to fight off the infection. In short, some protection is better than no protection at all.
So after much reading and research, I made a decision to register to received the Vaccine. Here in Virginia like everything else you have to register with the state and the State will decide who get the vaccine and when they will get it.
I realize their has to be some organization to prevent chaos. The state indicated that the first vaccines would go to health care workers, first responders and those with underlying health conditions. I am fine with that. Then the second phase was for those people over the age of 65. I fall within this category.
Early in this phase, a couple of friends of mine said they didn't register but received their first shots just by showing up late in the day at the vaccination site. They said that there is always vaccine left over because people failed to show up for their appointment. So they showed up late in the day and got their first shot and were scheduled for their second shot.
So, after waiting for about 10-days an not being scheduled for the vaccine, I drove over to the vaccination site at about 4:30 to see if I could get my first shot. Nope. They told me that I could not received the vaccine without an appointment. Even though they had doses left over. So are these doses going to waste or what is happening to them.
Well come to find out, I heard from a number of sources that any vaccines left over at the end of the day were redistributed to employees and students at Virginia Tech and Radford. If this is true it is another example of the government playing favorites.
On March 1, 2021 a new vaccine from Johnson & Johnson and Johnson was approved for use. This vaccine is very different from the Moderna and the Pizer that have been in use for a couple of months. First the Moderna and Pizer vaccines require two shots about 3 to 4 weeks apart while the Johnson and Johnson Vaccine requires only one shot.
The second major difference is that the Moderna and Pizer vaccines have to be stored at extremely cold temperature while the Johnson and Johnson can be store in a refrigerator, similar to other vaccines.
On Tuesday March 2, 2021, I got a call offering me an appointment for the New Johnson and Johnson Vaccine. I ask about waiting for the Moderna or Pizer and they told me that it would probably be several weeks before I could be scheduled for the first shot of those vaccines.
So, opted to get the one and done Johnson and Johnson Vaccine. I was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Friday March 5, 2021 at a local health care provider here in Christiansburg.
So, at the appointed time I showed up and completed the required paperwork. Ten Minutes later I received my shot. After receiving my shot I was required to wait on site for 15-minutes to see if I had any sort of reaction.
After being discharged from the vaccination site I returned home and life went on as normal until about 2 a.m. I went to be at my normal time of between 11 p.m. and midnight feeling fine. But about 2 a.m. I woke up feeling terrible, I ached all over. I took my temperature and it was normal. I went back to bed but the body aches got worse and i was unable to go back to sleep.
I finally got up about 7 a.m. still aching all over. I drank my coffee and tried to make myself do a few things but the truth is, the body aches were terrible and for the most part all I did was lay around. Then about 6 p.m. I thought I felt a little better. By 10 p.m. I knew I was feeling better. Having not slept much the night before, I went on to bed and almost immediately went to sleep.
Sunday morning it was over and I felt good a new. The only real side effect I had was the terrible body aches. No injection site reaction, No sore arm, no headache or fever.
So, now that I have the COVID Vaccine behind me will things return normal. The answer is a resounding NO!. As I said the Vaccine will NOT prevent me from getting COVID, it will hopefully allow me a better chance of fighting it off should I get it.
I am still going to wear a mask. I am still going to social distance and avoid crowed places. I am still going to use carry out from restaurants. But the one thing that is going to change is, I am going to travel. Since I travel alone, I hope that If I wear a mask, stay away from other people, and take all of the precautions that I have taken for the past year I will be ok.
I am looking forward to my first little trip that will hopefully happen in just a couple of weeks. Until then take a look at another video that is posted on my YouTube Channel
Stay tuned.
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