I could’ve heard my voice echo as I walked through the empty tent to the vaccination center at NJIT in Newark after work. I was worried the line would be long and I’d have to wait. I was also concerned that I might not be able to get in for my second shot before the facility closed at 7 so I raced out of my house without my vaccination card.

I had expected to see the hundreds of people who were on line with me for our first Pfizer shot earlier in the month. But, there were just about two dozen other people waiting with me.

“Did everyone else find another center?” I wondered. “Did they get their dose earlier? Are many of them skipping the second dose?”

I kept reading Cicely Tyson’s autobiography to distract me from my mounting concerns. I’s gotten a rash on my arm around my injection site last time that required Benadryl. What will happen to me this time? I thought. 

I’d taken two Tylenol and drank a lot of water beforehand to prepare my body for the shock the vaccine.But, I wondered if that would be enough to stop my body from react. My autoimmune disease, causes it to attack over just about anything.

Right after a soldier handed me my new card I felt a prick in my left shoulder. It was over already. Shot number two was done. I finished reading while I waited the requested 15 minutes and I walked home. I was there for about half hour before the itching and fatigue began. A spinal headache and body aches followed but I’ll take the bad with the good.

Despite being aware of stories like this (https://apple.news/AZP64SPt1Q1amw4y1z02lvw), that say immunocompromised people may not have full protection after vaccination, I thought,
I’m a bit safer than yesterday, I don’t need to fight the Coronavirus on top of everything else my body has been through. So, I’ll just rest.

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