Oliver: Angst over second dose of vaccine proves to be greatly exaggerated

Normally I try not to write about nothing. Yet, this time I think it might be something.

Ever since the pandemic started early in 2020, Tony and I have been extra cautious in everything that we’ve done. After all, I am a cancer survivor and still undergoing treatment to keep my breast cancer at bay. That, and respiratory issues, put me at high risk for serious complications from COVID-19.

Tony, with his early onset Alzheimer’s disease, is at high risk for contracting the virus, mainly because he has a hard time remembering to follow the guidance to wear a mask, stay 6 feet away from other people, and wash one’s hands frequently.

It also became apparent to me early on that I would need to be extra careful because as a caregiver, I wouldn’t have someone to care for me. Tony isn’t able to do that for me anymore. Worse yet, if I were to be hospitalized, who was going to take care of Tony?

Given all that, we were far more careful than a lot of people. We remain so, even as more and more people are acting as if this pandemic is over. It’s not, but there are hopeful signs.

One of them is the ability for anyone who wants one to receive vaccination doses against COVID-19. The idea is to have enough people to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. The state is making progress, but we still have a way to go.

I wrote last month about how Tony and I had our first doses of the Pfizer vaccine at the old Kmart building in McHenry, where the McHenry County Department of Health, with help from the Illinois National Guard, is conducting a mass vaccination clinic.

I have to say once more how impressed I am at how organized it was. Just think of what a logistical undertaking all of that is: keeping track of what vaccines and how many doses are coming, making sure the vaccine remains cold enough when being stored, tracking each individual who comes through and which shot they received, etc.

I’m told that the salaried health department staff put in an enormous amount of overtime in January alone to get everything going. When we think about our health care heroes through the pandemic, let’s not forget to thank these folks for all of their hard work.

Our first doses went smoothly and we didn’t have any reaction, except for some manageable arm pain. This wasn’t entirely unexpected, since most people who have reactions to the vaccines usually have them with the second shot.

A couple of my friends did have a hard time with the second dose. Some were really fatigued, and one or two had other symptoms that were less than pleasant. But there really was no rhyme or reason to which ones had them and which ones didn’t. All of them were fine within a day or two, and not one of them regretted getting vaccinated.

Just in case, I took the night off work and took a few more precautions. Tony, after all, would still need to be looked after even if I didn’t feel well.

This time of year, with the trees giving off pollen and my allergies really kicking up, I oftentimes feel icky, a bit tired and achy. I’ll even feel like I have a little bit of a fever, though not a full-blown one.

When that’s all I felt the evening after my shot, I couldn’t really tell you what the cause was. Was it the vaccine? Was it the fact the day had been warm and windy, meaning the pollen was everywhere? I guess I’ll never know.

What I do know is that my lack of strong reaction from the virus was a welcome surprise. It adds to the elation I feel at perhaps being able to worry less all the time about what will happen if I accidentally let my guard down in the presence of the COVID-19 virus.

Nothing in that case would really be something (to celebrate).

• Joan Oliver is the former Northwest Herald assistant news editor. She has been associated with the Northwest Herald since 1990. She can be reached at jolivercolumn@gmail.com.