A few weeks ago, I wrote about getting my first COVID jab.  This past weekend, it was time to get the second one.  This should have been a simple matter of showing up, getting stuck, and going home.  Things can never be that easy.  Medical drama is part of our lives, and this would be not at all different.

A few years ago, my wife had a ruptured brain aneurysm and, in one of the miracles that is modern medicine, had successful brain surgery, although she was left with four years of chronic headaches.  On Friday, in another medical miracle, she got a sphenopalatine ganglion block for the headaches.  (I love typing that.  It sounds like something from a science fiction movie and sort of looks like it.)

My wife felt so much better after this second procedure that she took Saturday to clean out a ditch and sprained her foot.  When we got to the vaccination clinic, she could barely walk, but her headaches had finally let up.  I had to help her hobble through the clinic.  When you get to our age, life itself is a pre-existing condition.

Thankfully, the lines were nonexistent, which was just the opposite of what we saw earlier.  This time, the people we saw were mostly those with significant obvious health issues — that is, the type of people who are the primary candidates for the vaccine.

When it comes to the vaccine, I know there are a significant number of people that just do not want it.  I was ambivalent.  I could take it or leave it.  I think the medical professionals do not see or understand that many people do not want the vaccine and are furious that it will be required to fully participate in society — things like flying on a plane, going to a concert, or attending college.

I had read that the second jab could cause a significant reaction.  Indeed, the staff at the clinic mentioned that some people might be staying away because of the potential for the second shot reaction.  However, these reactions seem to be worse for younger people, and neither my wife nor I qualify as "younger."  Because I have always tolerated vaccines well, I was worried only about my wife.

My concern was misplaced.  That evening, eight hours after the shot, it was I who was starting to have chills and severe shivering.  The vaccines are reactogenic and should be expected to produce some reactions, but most will be mild.  My wife was fine.  I slept fitfully and got up with severe body aches and a headache that felt as though my head would explode.  All day I was miserable.  By evening, it started to let up, but it was a long, miserable day.

In the trials for the vaccines, about 70 percent of participants were fatigued after their second dose, and more than half were achy or had chills.  Take that information and my experience as a warning.  The potential for an after-vaccine reaction is real, and it is not fun.  Plan for it.

We have been able to avoid COVID for a year.  The people in my household and my 88-year-old mother-in-law have managed to avoid it.  I had a bout of something that may have been COVID in February 2020 that was terrible and lasted two weeks.  That was before anyone was talking about COVID and there was no test.  Even after multiple doctor visits and oral surgery, we have not even had COVID, so I still don't know what happened to me then.  Maybe I was due a kick in pants from the vaccine — and I got that kick.

In sum, as was the case a month ago, the process was easy and professional.  I wish I had felt better, but I was glad my wife was spared.  And now we feel we have done our bit to hasten American's return to normal.

Image: Vaccination by rawpixel.com.