#MyWhy: Irma Shares Her COVID-19 Vaccine Experience
We’re so thankful that our providers and clinical staff are among the first Oregonians to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and so are they! As our team joins the #thisisourshot movement, we’ll share their vaccine selfies and stories, so we can celebrate each win together.
In Irma’s Words…
To be frank, I was nervous, not about the vaccine injection but how my body would react the following day. When I arrived there was a long line at Providence for those getting the vaccine; I didn’t feel alone. I honestly didn’t feel the poke and for an added safety measure, we sat for 15min while nurses observed us for any immediate reactions. The only symptom I ended up having the next day was mild injection site pain when I moved my arm up; no other symptoms. I feel great knowing my minimal sacrifice will potentially help my family, coworkers, & patients. When I told some of my patient families today, they praised me for getting the vaccine and felt reassured by my actions. I hope that we will all do our part in obtaining herd immunity in order to get rid of these masks!
I’ve reviewed the data on the vaccine options extensively. From the data collection, these are some of the reasons I decided to immunize:
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- We’ve had over 344,000 deaths due to COVID—that’s more than 0.1% of the ENTIRE U.S. population
- What’s worse is that many COVID survivors are suffering from COVID complications and long haulers symptoms
- Both Pfizer and Moderna studies had over 70K participants, which is a normal quantity of participants (similar to HPV vaccine studies)
- Moderna has shown 94.5% and Pfizer has shown 95% efficacy (that’s better than the flu shot many years)
- In the vaccine studies, despite the fast track, no steps were missed in the research
- The reported side effects are minimal (local arm pain, fatigue, rash, headache; so much better than COVID-19 symptoms)
- By the time I received my vaccine (12/30/20), over 2 million individuals had received the first dose in the U.S. alone
- Dr. Fauci received the vaccine
- Congressmen & Senators of both political parties (even those that didn’t believe in COVID) received the vaccine”
– Irma Sulejmanović-Bordeaux, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner + Lactation Consultant @ Happy Valley – Sunnyside
