Notes on the Second Shot

Fully vaxed and feeling things

Photo by Ivan Diaz on Unsplash

I got my second Covid vaccine two days ago and have been through some things. We’ve all been through some things, right?

The morning of Pfizer shot #2, I over-hydrate and spray rose water all over myself, because rose and water is supposed to help. I pack a giant water bottle and a jar of mixed nuts, because you never know. An hour of driving and whatever awaits, I wouldn’t want to tempt dehydration and low blood sugar. My husband, Steven, the driver who is also getting his second shot, is hoping for a Popeye’s chicken sandwich as a post-vax reward. I also bring my anxiety, because it always comes, and wonder if panic is joining. Sneaky devil, panic, I expect it to be just around the corner, but often enough it doesn’t show. Thankfully.

This process is interesting, a psychosocial experiment of sorts. After our difficult year of lockdown and isolation, filled with loss and drained of joy, we are now asked to file into mass centers of masked humanity to receive an injection that we hope will return us to our old lives, but that we know will probably make us sick. And most of us do it! After obeying all the rules and hiding in our holes for more than a year (except for masked and sanitized provision runs), most of us put on our masks, pack our wipes, and travel to large spaces full of other obedient…