By Andrea Rouda
YESTERDAY morning I received my Covid booster shot. I refuse to call it a “jab,” a term that has caught on in the media and is used by young journalists hoping to sound cool. The word is completely inappropriate because it means “to poke something or someone roughly or quickly with something sharp or pointed.” I barely felt it when the nurse, a sweet, soft-spoken woman, lightly touched my arm and then put a Band-Aid over the spot. She in no way jabbed me.
However you describe it, the medicine got in my system and caused a reaction which came on slowly. For the rest of the day I felt okay, a little sleepy, but by bedtime my arm felt like it weighed 300 pounds. Plus, it hurt. The rest of me was exhausted and I had chills. Sleeping last night was pure misery as I woke every hour and felt how bad I felt.
This morning I feel better, with my arm down to about 150 pounds. However, I now have a raging headache. Of course that’s just me; other people have reported no reaction at all. As my husband points out, however bad you feel from the booster, it’s usually short-lived and better than getting Covid.
The best thing about it is it makes you forget all the other things that have been hurting you.
—Andrea Rouda blogs at The Daily Droid.