Over the last couple of months, vaccine distribution plans have ramped up across the United States. For students like myself, I didn’t know whether I should pre-register at home in Texas or in Washington, D.C. where I live during the school year. Rollout in Texas has gone painstakingly slow (unless you are an individual over the age of 65) until recently, in March, and Washington D.C.’s online system has faced immense technological issues.
I was never truly worried about when I would receive a vaccine because thankfully I am a young, relatively healthy individual. However, it wasn’t until I visited my pulmonologist that I realized how my asthma could put me at risk if I ever did contract coronavirus. I immediately pre-registered for D.C.’s vaccination system and waited patiently until I was finally able to qualify under the pre-existing conditions roll-out a few weeks ago. Having heard numerous complaints on social media about the time D.C. was taking to vaccinate its residents, I expected to not hear back until summer honestly. But low and behold, three weeks later I woke up to an email at 7 a.m. asking me to schedule an appointment. I frantically cross-referenced my class schedule and booked my appointment within 5 minutes because I worried the appointments would fill up instantaneously. Having received my confirmation email, I blasted my roommate’s phone with text messages demanding she check her email as well (she also qualified under pre-existing medical conditions).
The night before our vaccination appointments, I was so nervous about missing our time that I had several nightmares of missing my alarm and consequently missing my appointment. I honestly should’ve expected this because I am a serial worrier, but oh well. Waking up constantly the night before induced one of the greatest migraines I have ever experienced which did not help soothe my nerves whatsoever. This was exacerbated by the shaky driving of our uber, leaving both my roommates and I feeling sick before we had even reached Howard University.
I’d heard from friends and family who have gotten their vaccinations, that there were would be a tiny chance of reacting badly to the first and second dose, but having already been nauseous from the Uber ride from hell, I wouldn’t be able to tell what reactions came from the vaccine and what came from our fabulous car ride.
My roommate Emilie, who is another Her Campus contributor and Director of the Social Team, and I were prepared to take videos, photos, anything really to document our experience getting the vaccine for HCAU social platforms, but we didn’t expect the process to be fast. From entering the building to getting checked in with our identification cards, getting our first dose, and being shuffled into the observation auditorium, less than ten minutes had passed. Emilie and I looked at each other from across the auditorium and couldn’t stop laughing because we hadn’t been able to capture any content for social media. The Howard doctors were just too efficient for us to keep up with. I had managed to capture one video before checking in, but that was about it.
All jokes about HCAU socials aside, all of the doctors and staff at Howard University were so kind and helpful throughout the process. They made it as accessible and efficient as possible, creating one of the safest medical environments I have felt in over a year.
Everyone involved in the creation of coronavirus vaccinations and the distribution of them deserve a lot more recognition for the hard work they are doing to help save lives and get life back to normal. So if you haven’t been vaccinated yet, please make sure to be courteous and say thank you to all those involved in helping you stay safe!
Numerous states have reduced the age of qualification for vaccinations to 18+, so I would highly recommend checking your city or states’ distribution plans to see if you qualify. D.C. has also updated its distribution plan to be for individuals 16+ after April 19th, so schedule an appointment wherever you can so you aren’t the only one left when summer rolls around. If those aren’t motivating enough, do it for your friends and family who are still susceptible to the virus and are at higher risks.