Booster

Got GlaxoSmithKline flu shot on my left deltoid, Pfizer covid booster on my right yesterday, and so far the main complaints are one arm about to fall off (guess which?) and insomnia.

The administering nurse told me others said the flu shot caused more soreness, so I got the booster on my right/dominant side. Right now, the flu shot soreness is tolerable, while the Pfizer side feels like something is actively chewing it off. Grateful for no fever chills anaphylaxis (life-threatening allergic reaction), however.

It took me awhile to decide to get the booster, up to the second the nurse injected me, as I felt the jab of a cold needle and thought, "well, too late to change my mind now." Initially, I wanted to hold out for a better booster, maybe the 2022 edition accounting for new variants. My previous two doses were enough to not land me in our own ICU, but ultimately with flu season coming, if there was anything I could do to not become patient zero somewhere or at least do no harm to immunocompromised or unvaccinated people, I should probably bite the bullet/booster.

After all, we all need a boost, booster, or shot these days, literal or metaphorical. It's been a long two years, the elderly and children especially have suffered, a lot of people (such as those children's caregivers) have died, and most of us could use more happiness, good news, a raise (gas prices & inflation though!)...a booster of some sort. 

The FDA approved a 30 mcg booster of the Pfizer shot that's as strong as the previous two doses of 30 mcg each, while Moderna can be chased by a half-dose 50 mcg booster (previous doses were 100 mcg each). Hopefully smaller doses mean fewer side effects.

People should make their own decision regarding vaccinations (and boosters) for them and their kids based on individual and familial risk tolerance, though some agencies and organizations are making those decisions for them, which may save their lives, but there's no way to know unless alternate universes are a thing, where there's a Control You and Experimental You who live life exactly the same with the only variable being covid vaccination. Most of us can probably think of at least one person we know who would still be alive if there had been a vaccine mandate, however.

From what we're seeing in the hospital, vaccination, whether it's J&J, Pfizer or Moderna, makes the difference between a) a covid+ grandma chilling on room air or b) an unvaccinated, previously healthy dad kept alive (barely) by a ventilator pushing 100% oxygen hard and fast into his scrub-daddy lungs, whose cardiovascular system needs continuous IV medication to halfheartedly pump blood and whose kidneys filter nothing and necessitate daily dialysis. Did I mention the pain/discomfort of illness and interventions require continuous opioid pain medication and sedative-hypnotics or he would not be able to bear another minute of it all? A tracheostomy (hole in the throat), PEG tube (feeding tube surgically inserted into the stomach) and living out the remainder of life in a long term care hospital is the happy ending here--only it isn't, really.

My arm's off, but my lungs, kidneys and conscience are okay.