By Vanessa Shehu, Staff Writer and Secretary
As of April 18, 2021 the United States has reported a significant milestone in its mission to vaccinate the population: 25.4% of the population has been fully vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes the COVID-19 infection. This translates to 84.2 million people, with President Biden aiming to have enough vaccines available for all eligible and electing adults to receive the immunization by late April 2021 (39.5% of the population, or 131.2 million people, have received at least one dose).
The United States’ vaccine rollout is divided into four phases: 1A, 1B, 1C and 2A. Phase 1A prioritizes the vaccination of long-term care facility residents, elderly and immunocompromised people 65 years and older, and healthcare personnel. Phase 1B increases eligibility to a majority of public servants such as teachers, public transit workers, law enforcement and clergy. Phase 1C further increases eligibility to essential workers in a variety of sectors such as banking and finance, sanitation and government staff. Finally, Phase 2 extends eligibility to all individuals ages 16 and over who desired the vaccine.
As of this article’s publication, Pennsylvania is in Phase 1C of the vaccine rollout, which began on April 12. Phase 2 is anticipated to begin nationwide on April 19, 2021.
Between April 19 and 20, Bryn Mawr College will host a vaccination clinic for students, faculty, and staff to receive the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. This development has generated significant anticipation in the Bryn Mawr community, for it indicates a step toward a world post-pandemic. Bryn Mawr’s vaccination clinic follows just a few weeks after Haverford College’s vaccination event on April 7, in which 500 community members received their initial dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Haverford has since offered a second clinic to administer doses of the Moderna vaccine.
In our excitement to document the Bi-Co’s recent campus-wide eligibility for vaccination, The Bi-College News has reached out to and sought the wisdom of two Bryn Mawr students who were vaccinated months ahead of the general population as dedicated members of the special-priority health care team. We interviewed Emma Yoder (BMC ‘21) and Dana Caldwell (BMC ‘22) received their vaccines during Phase 1A of the vaccine rollout. This was between December 2020 and January 2021. Both students worked on the front lines during the Winter Break of 2020, with Emma working as a certified birth doula and Dana as a hospital pharmacy technician.
Inspired by Dana and Emma’s service, we asked the two students to document their experiences receiving the coveted COVID-19 vaccination so early in the vaccine rollout timeline. We also inquired about their experiences working as health care workers at this time, for it is surely a rarity to learn of college students who would dedicate their school break to working on the frontlines during so scary and precarious a situation as the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is what Dana and Emma had to say:
Emma Yoder, Certified Doula
“Working as a doula, as well as a medical-surgical technician during the pandemic was highly rewarding, but also very stressful. When I received the email approving my ability to get the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, I was very excited and nervous! I, along with everyone else, had been waiting months for this moment, and it was very humbling.
“When I went for my first shot, it was a completely painless injection, but site pain was definitely a side effect for me. I felt slightly feverish for two days, with a 99°F fever, but it wasn’t bad at all. I definitely felt much more comfortable working having received the first injection. I had hope that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
“My second dose was very exciting, since I knew that I would have completed the full immunization. I had a very different experience, but I was prepared, having known a couple people who had gotten it that previous week. The injection was pretty painful for me, which surprised me, but it went away as soon as the injection was finished. For the first six hours, I felt completely normal, but that evening I definitely got the flu-like effects everyone had been talking about. I had a 102°F fever for two days, and I pretty much slept that entire time. I luckily could take off that entire weekend! After about 48 hours, I felt much better—Tylenol was super helpful.
“I remember how exciting It was to get through that second dose! I felt grateful and ecstatic, but also upset that non-employees were having such a hard time getting the vaccine, as well as hospital staff in more rural areas. Even though I am vaccinated, I continue to mask, social distance, and stay home as much as possible!”
Dana Caldwell, Certified Pharmacy Technician
“At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last March, I never would have expected I would be working on the frontline throughout it. However, I became a frontline worker at Penn Medicine Chester County Hospital as a pharmacy technician over the summer. My shift duties include filling in-patient medication orders in the pharmacy, mixing IV medication bags, and frequenting patient floors, including the three COVID units, to deliver medications.
“I take out the sterile alcohol wipes from my scrub top pocket to wipe down the keypad, screen, and scanner of the Omnicell medication storage machine on one of the hospital’s three COVID units. While I do not enter COVID patients’ rooms directly, I walk by their rooms, interact with the nurses and medical teams caring for them, and touch the same handles, buttons, doors, and keypads that the medical team caring for them does. One afternoon, shortly before Christmas, I remember a wave of anxiety that overcame me when I passed by a patient room’s open-door that had a small, pink “+” sign taped to the wall, denoting “COVID positive”. Although I wore a mask and eyeglasses and washed my hands until my skin cracked and turned red, I still worried about exposure for myself, and consequently exposure to my family and loved ones that I lived with. As a person with an autoimmune disease, I did not want to get COVID, but I was far more concerned that I would unintentionally expose one of my family members, especially my severely immunocompromised mother.
“Everyone suffers and feels anxiety and stress during a pandemic. While I felt quite safe at work since the hospital enforced a ton of strict safety measures, I also could never ignore the looming possibility of COVID exposure and the severity of the illness. I mixed IV paralytic medication bags to be administered to intubated COVID patients so they would not try to rip out their breathing tube. My coworkers and I shared silent and inconspicuous exhaustion and sadness. Many of the hospital workers, myself included, had not anticipated the length or gravity of the pandemic which has probably not even reached its peak yet. When the efficacy results for the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine were released and the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) became plausible, I felt the first bit of hope that I have had since March.
“After the FDA approved the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for EUA, it felt like there might be a light at the end of the tunnel very soon. We were not quite seeing the light yet, but it felt very close. I obsessively checked my work email, anxiously awaiting a message to sign up for my injection. Finally, my email arrived and my vaccine was scheduled for Christmas Eve, which would be the best Christmas present I would receive. A myriad of emotions flooded me: relief, excitement, joy, and dare I say even a bit of hope.
“I arrived at the hospital at 7:15 am on Christmas Eve to receive my Pfizer BioNTech COVID vaccine. The actual injection itself was completely painless; I did not even feel a pinch when the needle punctured my skin. I was given a paper card from the CDC that contained which brand’s vaccine I received and when my appointment for my second dose would be. I checked in with a nurse in the observation room where I waited for 15 minutes to ensure that I did not experience any immediate adverse reactions. While I sat, another nurse gave me a sticker that read ‘I received my COVID-19 vaccine!,’ which I wore the rest of the day and now have pinned to my bulletin board at home.
“Later that day and the following day, my arm felt about as sore as it does after my annual flu shot. I did not experience any other side effects besides my intense desire to tell everyone I saw that I was vaccinated.
“My second Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine dose is scheduled for 1/14/21. Receiving my first dose of the vaccine felt as if I was gifted a shield on the battlefield, and the anxieties that burdened me each time I entered a COVID patient floor lightened a bit as I donned my extra armor. Although I feel a little safer at work, I will not change my behavior much. I will continue wearing a mask, avoiding large indoor gatherings, and staying home when I do not feel well. Once the vaccine becomes available to you, I strongly encourage the Bi-Co community to receive theirs. By receiving the vaccine, not only are we protecting ourselves from COVID-19, we are protecting our friends, family, and frontline workers.”
Closing remarks
The Bi-College News extends its gratitude to Emma, Dana, and all the dedicated essential workers who have sustained the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic—healthcare personnel, scientists and researchers, public servants, grocery staff, volunteers, teachers and professors and more. We also wish the best of health to our Bi-College Community, and a positive experience to our community members receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in the coming weeks.
Image credit: Emma Yoder; Dana Caldwell; AL News
