Monty by Jim Meddick for April 14, 2021

Hairball cat calendar; how cute. (Ptooie!)

I get my first shot today. The beginning of the end.

3 days of explosive Hershey squirts and a massive headache, followed by every joint in my body aching and a dull headache, which I’m still waiting for it to go away. Mileage may vary, but it’s probably better than covid. I’m glad I didn’t know ahead of time how my body would react or I might not have got the shot. Still going in for the second one just to see what happens.

One thing that gets to me. The TV news seems to show over and over the actual needle going into someone’s arm. That may dissuades some people from getting the shot at least subconsciously. I really dislike shots and needles but I have to follow my doctor’s orders. Once it took seven jabs to get a blood catheter into me. Poor nurse and me with relentless flatulence!

Well Monty hoping the skin on your legs don’t peel off as a side effect.

I had the Moderna. Nothing with the first shot, but the day after the second one, I had chills and shakes for an hour. And no appetite for a couple of days.

No $#!+. Or IV’s stabbed into the back of your hand three or four times a day. I think old people have less side effects because they don’t even know what side effects are any more. Just more pain.

I had some side effects with the first shot. Everyone said that the second one would be worse, but it wasn’t. My arm wasn’t even sore. Then Out of the Past could be correct. I’m old and I’ve always got some sort of ache or pain to contend with.

I got my first shot 14 days ago. My doctor says the protection sets in after two weeks so I might poke my head out the door to have a look at the real world today.

There’s all this nonsense about having a Covid vaccination card to be essentially a passport. What about those of us who actually recovered from the disease and have real antibodies, and hence need no stupid vaccination?

I had the J&J three weeks ago. No problems here, thankfully.

No side effects at all after either of my Modernas. Same for my wife.

After 300+ pints of blood donated to the Red Cross, where they use 12-gauge needles, I think of those tiny little things they use for vaccinations as toys. The main thing to remember is that they’re all being wielded by pros who’ve done it hundreds of times before.

It is stock footage. For months they have been showing the wrong size syringe and wrong size needle. They are not very good at giving the shot either.

Hope you don’t have an allergic reaction. Odds are small that you will die…..

Mr Meddick is a stickler for accuracy: that’s a genuine April 2021 calendar page.

Actually, I found getting the dose was somewhat anti-climatic. After all of the drama of the last year and the bureaucracy to get it, all it was just a little pressure on the shoulder. I told the nurse this and she looked just a little annoyed.

The psychological problems resulting from prolonged shutdown and isolation are real and can be serious.

Hang in there, Monty! You can do it!

Not all that hard, mostly similar in level to the flu vaccine for me, though with its own nuances.

Remember this: the response your body has to the vaccine is it learning the lesson so those whose bodies have a stronger response are doing a better job at learning.

I was concerned about possibly reacting, having had severe allergic reactions including anaphylactic shock for some injected meds in the past, but did not react to either my first or second injection of the Moderna, just the sick feelings of responding. (There now is an approach with multiple smaller vaccines for those who do react, but do not confuse responding with reacting!)