I finally got my second Covid vaccine shot. Unplanned until I was on my way to get some groceries, I walked into Marcs and got it done.
During my last attempt to get the shot, I had a panic attack on the drive up that prevented me from finishing the journey, and resulted in me getting sick and going to the ER. It was a scheduled shot at the Wolstein Center, which I hadn’t cancelled before the time, so couldn’t reschedule through that system.
I was unsure of how and where to get it and afraid I’d have another panic attack. Working through being sick plus taking action on my chronic health issues, the normal time frame for getting the second shot came and went. I was then also unsure if I should just start over. But walk-in appointments started appearing at places, and my doctor said to go ahead and get the second shot because there isn’t enough evidence that it isn’t effective that long out.
I had seen that the Marcs near me had the Pfizer shot, the one I needed, and said they took walk-ins. On my way home from physical therapy, I thought I should get some food from Marcs since it was on the way. Then I thought that I could try to get the shot if they had it available and my anxiety didn’t overwhelm me. This took out the long drive for my anxiety to build.
I went into Marcs and up to the pharmacy counter with only a little bit of anxiety. There was no sign or anything visible about the vaccine, and the pharmacists were busy back behind the counter. I waited until one finally came up to greet me, and asked if they did the Pfizer vaccine and could do a second shot. He said they could do that for me and had me fill out some paperwork while he took my vaccine and insurance cards to enter them in. He said it would be 10-15 minutes to get it ready.
I walked around the nearby aisles for a bit but my anxiety was building, not too bad but enough to worry me that it would keep getting worse. It was kinda chilly in there and I considered going out to my car to grab my hoodie. But I sat down and waited and started to feel calmer. A young guy who may have also been waiting for the shot came up and was walking around, muttering, then sat nearby. He talked some to me in a muttering fashion so I only caught some of what he said and only responded a little. He vaped and his presumed mother told him to go outside, but he said he didn’t care, sounded a bit anxious himself. The strange social situation kind of got rid of the anxiety about the shot for me.
The pharmacist finally came around the counter with some needles and had the young guy move because he was sitting in the vaccination chair. The guy told me a bit more about the shot and had me sit down and I lifted my over-shirt. He gave me the shot, which was more noticeable than the last one but still not too bad. He said a bit more including that I should hang around for 15 minutes but could shop. So I did.
So far, I feel some pain / soreness in that arm, but I don’t think it’s as bad as the first time. I was able to do my evening physical therapy exercises with only minor trouble from the pain. I think everything else I feel is just my normal issues. I hope the symptoms stay no worse than this, but I also hope that the vaccine is effective.
My boss was preferring I get the second shot before working back at the office, so that may be coming in a week or so.