Recently, Northeastern came out with the news that all students should be completely vaccinated in order to attend classes for the next fall semester. It is crazy to think that less than a year ago, we were living in a pandemic with no available vaccine. Slowly, the vaccine has started to become more available, where many belonging to the general public are also getting their vaccines. People are slowly being sorted into the different factions of vaccines – Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. I personally belong on Team Pfizer.
A couple of weeks ago, I was eligible to receive the vaccine back in New York. Not wanting to waste any time, I went back on a weekend trip in order to get my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. I had scheduled it with a friend who went to a different college, and the both of us were a mixture of nervousness and excited as we went into the hospital where we were going to receive our vaccines. We had heard earlier that the symptoms of the vaccine would be bad, one friend even getting a very bad flu the next day from it. We went into the city and went through different checkpoints, getting our temperatures checked and scheduling a date for our second dose. At long last, I was seated in a little makeshift booth. This was the moment that I, along with everyone else, had been looking forward to since March of 2020. Although I am not bad with needles, I usually turn my head away when I receive a shot from the doctor. However, I thought that this moment was so significant, I needed to be present to remember this moment forever. I pulled up my sleeve, looking to one of the seats I would be resting in soon, and suddenly, the nurse in charge of me was already pulling down my sleeve. I had missed the moment. I had expected so much, but when it came down to it, the moment in itself was so mundane.
I received my vaccination card, keeping it safe until I could find the right background to take the obligatory photo for Instagram, showing off the vaccine that I had just received. After resting for 15 minutes, I left with a slightly sore arm, looking forward to getting my second dose in three weeks. The next day, I was already back in Boston, ready to start the week, freshly vaccinated.
