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Issue 177 March 2021 A NEWSLETTER OF THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY Vaccine FAQ: What is it like to get the COVID-19 Vaccine? G RETCHEN M. M ICHELFELD Yes, there have been bumps in the road to rollout the coronavirus vaccine, with peo- ple who are fully eligible having trouble get- ting vaccination appointments while refrig- erators full of doses languish unused. Those of us who worry about equitable medical treatment for marginalized populations are staying politically hypervigilant, and many are trying to help older family members and neighbors navigate New York City’s convo- luted online appointment system. But hope is in the air as we see more and more of the public vaccinated. We can almost picture ourselves in a post-COVID world replete with ball games, theatre, in- person school, and hugging. I informally polled a number of vac- cine recipients (i.e., everyone I know who has been vaccinated) to hear their stories. David Jay Smith, a Patient Represen- tative at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, works at the Rockefeller Outpa- tient Pavilion on East 53rd Street. He was vaccine-eligible because his job entails daily, direct contact with Sloan Kettering cancer | NATURAL SELECTIONS NATURAL | patients. David received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine in January. Everything went smoothly. He got his appointments through his employer, was vaccinated at the hospital, and has experienced no side effects at all. “I feel physically fine and getting the vaccine has been a positive thing for me emotionally. I was informed that I can still contract COVID, and can still be a car- rier, so I’m taking all of the precautions I’ve been taking all year, but I believe that if I do MICHELFELD M. GRETCHEN contract COVID I will have a much milder Dr. tenOever Shows Off His Vaccinated Arm c a s e .” In contrast, Ray and Bru Lopez were and get hugs,” Bru wrote to me, “It felt really It was all family members, but still…” told that ten to fifteen days after their second good! That is what I have missed the most. The Lopezes live in The Buckingham, shot, it would be safe to socialize indoors Human touch. Fortunately, Ray and I have a retirement community in Houston, Texas. and mask-free. Eleven days after receiving each other. There are so many people here Their age made them a high priority to be in their second Pfizer shot, Ray and Bru were who are widowed. They tell me all the time the first wave of vaccine recipients. thrilled to be able to attend their great- that we are so lucky to have each other.” Still, Bru explained, “They told us that granddaughter’s birthday party. she was nervous. She wrote, “I was very reti- “We were so happy to see everyone cent. I was not sure that we were totally safe. CONTINUED TO P. 2 - 1 CONTINUED FROM P. 1 - mal, but my blood pressure was a little el- evated.” The on-site physician suggested she Walgreens would be here on January 5 and go to the ER as a precautionary measure. But Editorial Board again on January 26, and The Buckingham Aisha hesitated (“You know, COVID and nurse called every resident and scheduled all.”) and soon the swelling subsided. an appointment time. They administered Aisha also had trouble making that Megan Elizabeth Kelley 400 Pfizer vaccines to residents and staff. first vaccine appointment. As a front-facing Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor, The shot was very quick, and we hardly felt counselor who works alongside law enforce- Communication it. My arm was a little sore the next day, but ment and Child Protective Services, she was Ray did not have any problem. I guess you eligible right away, but her place of employ- Anna Amelianchik could compare it to a flu shot.” ment did not arrange for her to be vaccinat- Associate Editor The Lopezes and others in retirement ed. Staff had to handle the system on their Nicole Infarinato communities and assisted living facilities own. People whose employers arrange for Editorial Assistant, Copy Editor, Distribution are fortunate to have institutions working vaccinations have a much easier time of it. the system for them. I myself got a call from NYPD Sergeant Gerard Walker and Evan Davis my mother’s nursing home, Braemar Living Dr. Benjamin tenOever of Mt. Sinai were Copy Editor, Photographer-in-Residence in Middletown, NY, saying that all residents lucky to have their employers provide the Melissa Jarmel would receive the vaccine. My mom didn’t vaccine. even need an appointment. I gave my per- Ben, the Fishberg Professor of Medi- Copy Editor, Website Traffic mission, and she received her first shot the cine and Director of the Virus Engineering Audrey Goldfarb same day. Center for Therapeutics and Research at Mt. Copy Editor, Webmaster, Website Design New York City senior citizens who Sinai, was enrolled in the Phase III clinical live on their own are having a tougher time trial for Pfizer. “We received either placebo Jennifer Einstein, Emma Garst getting vaccinated. Monica Liriano, a Mar- (saline) or the vaccine,” Ben told me. “It was Copy Editors ket Research Executive in Jackson Heights, a blinded study, but it was very apparent Queens, had to navigate several different what each person received based on wheth- Jim Keller websites before she could get her mother, er their arm was sore the next day.” Editor-at-Large Lady, an appointment. Ben had to maintain a “COVID di- Nan Pang “I feel like the appointment we finally ary” thereafter to report on any symptoms Designer got was a fluke. I was convinced we were he might be experiencing. He also had to going to show up and either it wasn’t a real promise not to get any other vaccines in the thing, or she’d get turned away,” Monica told interim and, interestingly, not to have un- selections.rockefeller.edu me. But once they arrived at the vaccine site protected sex with anyone during the three- [email protected] at Newtown High School in Elmhurst, ev- week period between shots. He felt totally erything went smoothly. “All in all, the pro- fine after both shots, but, he says, others in cess took thirty minutes, there were no lines, the study developed fever and body aches tionally. Mostly grateful to have been able to no waiting outside and everything was really after the booster. receive the vaccine so soon. Although, if I well organized. Also, no weird questions or Gerard feels fine as well. could, I would have given mine to my hus- directives—only that her arm might hurt “I’m glad the process is over,” he told b an d .” and she should ice the area.” Monica was me after he received his second Moderna Everyone I interviewed reported be- also pleased that the intake nurse made La- shot at an NYPD shooting range in the ing glad to have received the vaccine. Even dy’s second appointment right on the spot. Bronx that had been transformed into a Aisha hopes “as more research develops Lady was a bit nervous to get the vac- testing/vaccination site. Like so many other there may be future guidance on reactions, cine at first, but now that she has had her first vaccine recipients, Gerard reported soreness and if it is ever deemed safe for me to receive Moderna shot, she’s telling all her friends to in his arm, but no other side effects. the second dose, I will.” get it too. Unfortunately, appointments are Jim Keller, a grant writer/editor at Me- Monica asked me to tell people, still very hard to make. morial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and “Don’t be nervous to get the vaccine and ask Unlike Lady, who experienced no pain former Natural Selections Editor-in-Chief, for feedback about different locations since or side effects, Aisha Mabarak, a staff mem- was, like fellow employee David Jay Smith, there seems to be varying experiences de- ber at a Child Advocacy Center in Brook- happy to have Sloan Kettering provide vac- pending on where you go.” lyn, had a bad reaction to her first Moderna cination appointments and administer the Monica’s mom is doing very well, as shot and she has decided to follow the CDC shots on site. Jim was not asked to keep a di- are David, Bru, Ray, Ben, Gerard, and Jim. guidelines and not get her second. ary, but after the first injection, Sloan Ketter- My mom has dementia, so she cannot tell “At minute ten of the fifteen-minute ing sent him a follow up questionnaire every me how the shot has impacted her health, observational period after the shot I noticed day so that he could report any side effects. but her caregivers report that she is feeling my right hand was quite swollen,” Aisha told The shots did not hurt, but both times he great and everyone is relieved the seniors me. “A staff member called an EMT who noticed his heart rate increased. He believes and staff at Braemar are protected. came to my seat and, when he saw my hand, this was anxiety. Let us hope we are all able to avail he moved me to a separate area where he And how does he feel now? ourselves of this protection as soon as pos- checked my vitals. My heart rate was nor- “I feel fine, both physically and emo- sible. n 2 Culture Corner Stories of Individual Change and Redemption in Movies BERNIE LANGS A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back.

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