Last week, President Joe Bideninstructedstates to prioritize teachers for the COVID-19 vaccine in the month of March.
But in some states, teachers were already gaining access to the shots as essential workers.
Verywell Health: How did you go about securing your appointment?
The slot we got was for the following Monday.
She tried different websites, most of which were crashing.
Verywell Health: Walk me through the day you received the vaccine.
What was that like?
Tim Hartnett:My wife and I got it at Lincoln Hospital in New York City.
We went pretty early.
[From the time of our appointments], we waited around 20 minutes.
They call you up one by one into a little stall.
The poor woman who did the injection had been working for the entire day nonstop.
When she took the needle out [of my arm] blood squirted all over her.
She told me that that can happen (but I was the first one that got her!)
and that it wouldnt affect the efficacy of the vaccine.
He was very happy to be offering vaccines and hope.
You could tell they were all very happy to be on this assignment.
And the workers all had [the vaccine] too.
So you could hear everybody in line asking them how their experience was.
And every time they would say, “everyone’s different; venture to drink plenty of water.”
After the shot, we went into an auditorium to wait 15 minutes before we could leave.
We got a nice pin of the Statue of Liberty with an injection.
That’ll make a nice COVID artifact someday.
Verywell Health: Did you experience any symptoms after the first or second shots?
How long did they last?
It was less painful than a flu shot.
I had it bad after the second dose.
I had a fever.
I didn’t sleep well that night.
But I think if I was able to just sleep in, it would have been a lot easier.
They also said to hydrate.
And I didn’t really take that seriously.
I think I would have felt a lot better if I drank a lot of water.
Verywell Health: Has being fully vaccinated changed your day to day?
Tim Hartnett:We’re both high school teachers and the schools are still closed.
So honestly, it hasn’t really affected my life much at all.
That was really nice.
And my parents are really nervous about the virus so they were happy that we were vaccinated.
But aside from that, I still wear a mask when I go outside.
I haven’t been going to restaurants because nobody else has the vaccine.
I feel like it’s not the time to be rubbing it in that I got it.
Verywell Health: Did you tell other people you got vaccinated?
Are you one of the first in your circle to get it?
Tim Hartnett:Yeah, especially my co-workers.
A lot of my co-workers are really nervous about it, and haven’t gotten it yet.
So I talked about my experience to them to take a stab at say, “this is great.
You don’t die.”
But I haven’t been posting it on Instagram or anything like that.
But I feel more guilt than relief.
I just look forward to everybody else getting it.
My wife’s grandma is 95 and we got the vaccine before her.
It feels unfair, but everyone has to get it.
I know that the bad sign-up system is the reason that I have access while others do not.
But there was also an enormous sense of relief that I am still grateful for and guilty of.
Verywell Health: Do you have any advice for someone considering getting the vaccine?
Tim Hartnett:Get it!
Plan for the possibility of feeling less than 100% the next day.
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