Vaccine

[hudebnik]

Got my first shot (Moderna) the morning of Wednesday, March 31 at a Rite-Aid about a mile from home. (I probably could have gotten one a few days sooner by driving to Brooklyn or Staten Island, but didn't.) Things went smoothly, aside from me not having my insurance card handy (the lady behind the counter, seeing my consternation, said she had all the necessary information in the computer), and I spent my fifteen-minute waiting period shopping for drugstore things that we needed anyway. No immediate side effects. There was some muscle ache in the deltoid injection site about twelve hours later, and I woke up in the middle of the night with itchy palms, but that may be due to the niacin (one of the things I picked up at the drugstore; I take it when convenient for cholesterol control). Second shot is scheduled for four weeks later.

The guy who administered the shot said if there was significant site pain, I should take acetaminophen but not ibuprofen, and in any case I should avoid immunosuppressant allergy meds such as loratadine. shalmestere, who uses both ibuprofen and loratadine regularly, was concerned that she hadn't been given similar advice.