By Dr. Gabriella Kőrösi
It was a Friday afternoon I believe when I got my first notification that I am eligible to receive the COVID -19 Moderna vaccine. Even before that notification at work I had to fill out a questionnaire if I am willing to get the vaccine and how close I am to patients and providing patient care throughout the day. Once I received the notification I had to go to an app and pick a date and a time available for vaccination. Before the vaccination event I received 2 or 3 reminders about the vaccination time and place. I was very excited to receive the vaccine. Part of me was also scared. Not because we do not have enough information, I knew that the studies been valid, I done my research. I was scared that it is not going to be done in time to save the people who are most vulnerable. There had been too many deaths and we are far from over in the battle for life in this Pandemic. When I got to work Monday, I realized that the vaccination clinic was also looking for more help and I signed up to be the part of the clinic for both days. The day I received the vaccine my role was to be one of the observers after people received the vaccine and day two was to vaccinate people. Both roles were very interesting. We did the clinic in our conference rooms. People checked in outside in the hall, went through all necessary paperwork then came into the conference rooms to be vaccinated. We had three vaccination stations both days and the second half of the room was set up for post vaccination observation. The vaccinators double checked the questionnaire filled out and asked questions about allergies, allergic reactions, immunocompromised conditions, and blood disorders. People who had any type of allergic reactions before vaccinations had to get a consultations with their primary care provider to discuss the benefits and possible reactions to the vaccine. In the post vaccination area, we provided follow up information about next steps, monitoring adverse effects, and recommending registration to the CDC ’s vaccine safe site. We monitored people between 15-30 minutes. One wonderful, unexpected effect in the post observation area was observing the connection between people. While some people were eager to get out when the 15 minutes was over, others were happy to stay and had engaging conversations with other staff members. Sometimes people forgot about the time and ended up talking to others and staying much longer than required. While I was in the observation role, we did not have anyone with any reaction to the vaccine. I received my vaccine at 15:10 at my scheduled time than went back to continue my observation of others. The vaccine itself did not hurt. I did develop some pain and local reaction by the next day. I registered to the CDC ’s v-safe site and received check ins for about a week every day after receiving the vaccination. The next day I was excited to participate in vaccine administration. Adding people in the ALERT vaccination system was also happening in real time. When I set up my station and got my first bag of vaccine, I felt like I am handling gold. Most people were very eager to receive the vaccine. Some people were nervous or anxious and asked some questions before receiving the vaccine. Most people did not even felt the vaccine administration. Many people did pictures and videos to create a memory of the vaccination. I made some pictures of vaccines, my vaccine station and posted some pictures that other people took of my while vaccinating. Overall receiving a vaccine and participating in the vaccination clinic had been a wonderful experience and I am hoping to be able to help out in other vaccination clinics in the future. Vaccines are still only part of the solution especially as we do not know how long the effectiveness will last. Preventing the spread by avoiding crowds, wearing a mask and hand hygiene are essential to help decrease the spread of the coronavirus.
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Wear a Mask
Get Vaccinated
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