3/26/21
Today I was on the receiving end of a mild stabbing for the greater good. Wait, wait, let me rephrase that. Today I got my first dose of the Moderna vaccine.
On March 24th incarcerated people in Washington state all became eligible for vaccination as per Governor Inslee’s Covid vaccination schedule. This prompted the WA DOC medical to put out a memo stating that the Moderna and the Jonson and Johnson vaccines are being maybe available to incarcerated people and we will have our pick of which of the two vaccines we want to receive.
I immediately put in a kite asking to be given whatever vaccine thy happened to have on hand, and today that kite was answered. I swear, it has to be a record for the fastest reply to a kite I’ve ever gotten.
Apparently, someone else turned down their dose of Moderna today, and the nurse just happened to see my kite a few minutes later, so she had me called down to the clinic special so that I could be given the dose which someone else had refused. I was the last one to get the shot today and I was given the last shot of that shipment of vaccine.
After I was given the shot, the nurse gave me an egg timer set for 15 minutes and had me sit on a bench which is highly visible to the nurses’ station. After that they had me spend another 20 minutes in the medical holding tank / waiting room before letting me go back to my unit. I was hoping this meant there was a chance the shot would make me go full mutant with tentacles and gills. I mean, the vaccine was developed kinda fast right? Sadly, no such luck. No negative side effects or mutations. Just a soreness in my left arm which has already faded and a sense of mild boredom.
You’d think I’d feel some sort of excitement or relief or something. I’m doing my part to protect people with various heath problems and finally be free of all the restrictions and lockdowns. But I don’t. Going to medical is an inherently alienating experience and no amount of purposeful intention behind my choices changes that. I’m do-gooder-ing but I don’t have any feeling of magic to it.
I’ll be going back for my second dose on April 23rd. Hopefully between now and then I won’t get any negative side effects. Who knows, maybe it will make me grow a pair of giant butterfly wings and it’s just taking a while. I’d be ok with that.
Amber Fayefox Kim 