Collected Item: “Life in a Needle”
Give your story or documents a unique title.
Life in a Needle
Tell us a story; share your experience. Or describe the item you are submitting. What does the object or story you've uploaded say about the pandemic, and/or why is it important to you?
Throughout medical history vaccinations have been imperative in order to fight diseases and viruses. As a child these vaccinations start at two months and tend to continue through our lives. Most vaccines are mandatory but there are some that are voluntary which leaves us contemplating our decision. The contemplation on getting a vaccine is why I chose a picture of my COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card to be submitted as my primary source. When COVID first hit the United States, we weren’t really prepared for the devastation that it brought right along with it. When I first heard about COVID it still hadn’t reached the United States and that was around January but then around March New York started going into lockdown. The lockdown period was pretty difficult to deal with as the way of life completely changed. Mentally, emotionally and physically it took a toll on me. As a person that was barely at home because of school and work the lock down caused great anxiety. From the moment the world heard about the first case it went into creating a vaccine that could prevent the number of cases of deaths and hospitalizations from increasing.
As pharmaceutical companies started the research to create a vaccine, I was pretty skeptical about it. I was refusing to get the vaccine if they succeeded in creating it because there was just so much doubt going through my head. I was unsure what the vaccine contained and if it would work in the prevention of catching COVID. But long behold a vaccine was created but of course there were so many side effects that came with the shot. With everything that was going wrong with the vaccine during the experimentation period it just strengthened my decision to decline the shot. My views started to change once I started to hear that many people weren’t getting any symptoms from the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. These vaccines required the person to receive two doses in order to be “immune” to COVID. Another reason that caused me to change my views on receiving the shot was the fact that I wanted to travel, and the government was requiring a vaccination passport in order to do so. The first dose of vaccines was only available to the elderly and to the healthcare workers who were risking their lives coming into contact with COVID patients. Then they started extending the qualifications needed for someone to receive the shot which included: preexisting conditions, obesity, high risk conditions, and many other qualifications. These are just of the few qualifications that was asked for in order for someone to be eligible to receive a vaccination.
Because I have a preexisting condition, I was eligible to receive the COVID 19 vaccine. It was pretty difficult trying to get an appointment due to the high volume of people who wanted to receive the shot. After multiple attempts in trying to secure my appointment, I succeed with Walmart. I received my first Moderna vaccination on March 12, 2021 and my second vaccination on April 23, 2021. I was content on receiving the Moderna vaccine because it wasn’t recalled for causing health problems like the rest of the vaccinations from other pharmaceutical companies were causing. After a few hours of receiving my first shot I started to feel dizzy and very lightheaded to the point that I couldn’t drive at work. With the second shot my symptoms were: dizziness, fever, body aches, chills, change of smell and taste and nausea. The second shot was stronger than the first one but I’m glad that those were the only symptoms I experienced. But the one thing that both shots had in common after receiving them was the soreness of the arm for multiple days. Now that is has been almost a month that I received my second shot almost all the symptoms have vanished except for my change of smell and taste. Because the shot as altered my sense of smell and taste it has made it unbearable for me to smell or eat meat but I’m hoping that it will subside soon.
The decision on receiving the COVID 19 vaccine is a daunting one to make as there can be many factors that can influence you. I received the vaccine as a precaution to myself and others. I also took it in order to travel and not worry about being prevented from boarding a flight because I can’t provide proof of the vaccination record card. I think this new vaccine is going to be a lot like the Flu shot as it comes in seasons and its up to the person to decide whether or not they’re going to get it. I’m just happy that the government hasn’t made it mandatory because there is still a lot of people who are pretty skeptical about it. The decision of our life is in a needle.
As pharmaceutical companies started the research to create a vaccine, I was pretty skeptical about it. I was refusing to get the vaccine if they succeeded in creating it because there was just so much doubt going through my head. I was unsure what the vaccine contained and if it would work in the prevention of catching COVID. But long behold a vaccine was created but of course there were so many side effects that came with the shot. With everything that was going wrong with the vaccine during the experimentation period it just strengthened my decision to decline the shot. My views started to change once I started to hear that many people weren’t getting any symptoms from the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. These vaccines required the person to receive two doses in order to be “immune” to COVID. Another reason that caused me to change my views on receiving the shot was the fact that I wanted to travel, and the government was requiring a vaccination passport in order to do so. The first dose of vaccines was only available to the elderly and to the healthcare workers who were risking their lives coming into contact with COVID patients. Then they started extending the qualifications needed for someone to receive the shot which included: preexisting conditions, obesity, high risk conditions, and many other qualifications. These are just of the few qualifications that was asked for in order for someone to be eligible to receive a vaccination.
Because I have a preexisting condition, I was eligible to receive the COVID 19 vaccine. It was pretty difficult trying to get an appointment due to the high volume of people who wanted to receive the shot. After multiple attempts in trying to secure my appointment, I succeed with Walmart. I received my first Moderna vaccination on March 12, 2021 and my second vaccination on April 23, 2021. I was content on receiving the Moderna vaccine because it wasn’t recalled for causing health problems like the rest of the vaccinations from other pharmaceutical companies were causing. After a few hours of receiving my first shot I started to feel dizzy and very lightheaded to the point that I couldn’t drive at work. With the second shot my symptoms were: dizziness, fever, body aches, chills, change of smell and taste and nausea. The second shot was stronger than the first one but I’m glad that those were the only symptoms I experienced. But the one thing that both shots had in common after receiving them was the soreness of the arm for multiple days. Now that is has been almost a month that I received my second shot almost all the symptoms have vanished except for my change of smell and taste. Because the shot as altered my sense of smell and taste it has made it unbearable for me to smell or eat meat but I’m hoping that it will subside soon.
The decision on receiving the COVID 19 vaccine is a daunting one to make as there can be many factors that can influence you. I received the vaccine as a precaution to myself and others. I also took it in order to travel and not worry about being prevented from boarding a flight because I can’t provide proof of the vaccination record card. I think this new vaccine is going to be a lot like the Flu shot as it comes in seasons and its up to the person to decide whether or not they’re going to get it. I’m just happy that the government hasn’t made it mandatory because there is still a lot of people who are pretty skeptical about it. The decision of our life is in a needle.
What sort of object is this, and where did you find it? (Examples: text story, photograph, screenshot, drawing, meme, personal essay, street art, etc.)
Photograph
Are you the sole creator of these materials? Then select "I am sole creator." If no, please select "I have co-creators" and list the names of the content co-creators, their contact information, and the circumstances of how you came to have the materials. IMPORTANT: Each co-creator must fill out this form in order for the item to be accepted by the archives. However, only one co-creator is required to upload any document.)
I am sole creator
Name of the item creator, unless anonymous. If creator is unknown, leave blank.
Marilyn Santiago
Use tags (separated by commas) to describe your story or documents. For example: Does it relate to a particular neighborhood? Does it relate to a particular aspect of the pandemic?
COVID19, Vaccine, Moderna, Pfizer, Vaccine Passport, Double Dose
Give a date associated with this story or documents.
2021-03-12
What is your affiliation, if any, with Bronx Community College?
Student
If what you are submitting was created as part of a Bronx Community College class, please indicate the course code (i.e., ENG1010) semester, and professor:
HIS 20 Professor Culkin
Select this box to agree to the Creative Commons NC-ND license as described in the above Submission Agreement.
I agree to a CC-ND-NC Licence