It’s been one week since I received my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. I go for my second dose in two weeks. I can’t believe how excited I’ve been to be part of an evergrowing group of vaccinated people. The one thing I will not miss about the pandemic is the overriding anxiety that saturated every aspect of my being for the last year.

After what I described in the update and edit last week, I had no noticeable side effects. After a couple of days, the injection site was sensitive to touch and there was a slight bump there, but nothing not consistent with any other vaccine I’ve gotten before.

I will continue to wear my mask, probably two. I’ve been doubling the masks since late winter when the variants became more prevalent in the US.

The vaccine may not keep us from getting covid but our symptoms and illness will be much more mild than without the vaccine.

A very important reminder: You cannot get the covid virus from getting the vaccine. There is no virus contained in the vaccine itself.

Read up on the different vaccine options. You will probably not be given a choice as to which one you get – it is simply a matter of which vaccine is available at your vaccine site.

When you are eligible to get yours, get it!