Not Throwing Away Our Shot

Monday was the first day that people in Florida between the ages of 40-50 were technically eligible for the vaccine. I had asked my doctor last month about getting a medical authorization to get one earlier because of my two auto-immune disorders. Imagine how frustrating it was to hear that the guidelines were written so specifically in Florida that I didn't qualify - because I no longer take a daily steroid (I just totally changed my diet 3.5 years ago in order to avoid constant steroid use), because my laundry list of food, medicine and environmental allergies don't require an Epipen, and because my insulin resistance doesn't need metformin to treat it. 

Last Friday am, Daryl and I got on Publix's website before 7am and waited. About 7:20 we were able to login and score appointments for Tuesday morning of this week at the Publix right by our house. Great! 

Last night right as I was putting Parker's birthday dinner in the oven to cook, I got a call from Publix saying that they had extra shots leftover at the end of the day and could we come early for our shots? So Daryl and I ran down while dinner was cooking and got vaccinated. Moderna shot 1. 

Honestly, I was so relieved after worrying about my health this last year, that I sat in the observation chairs and just cried tears of relief to finally have the process started. 

I know that I can still get Covid even after being fully vaccinated (we get our second shot at the end of April), but truly the vaccine is meant not to prevent every infection but rather to help slow the rate of transmission and to prevent severe complications if I were to get Covid, like major hospitalization or death. Since I am allergic to several of the meds that are typically used to treat Covid infections, this makes me feel so much better about my chances. Moderna's shot has an 85-90% efficacy after shot 1 that goes up to 95% after shot 2. 

 I told Parker last night our getting vaccinated was an extra birthday present for him - because it is the first step towards him being able to go to school in-person for his senior year next fall. He's eligible for the Pfizer shot next Monday and we are working to get him an appointment as quick as we can.