Photo credit to the nine year old.
Based on what you've read on the blog, it's easy to pick up I'm pro vaccination(s), masks, and being Covid conscience. It shoud surprise no one that as soon as booster shots were approved, I was ready to roll up my sleeve. Late last week, booster shots for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson were approved, as well as mixing. This means if you had Moderna the first time, you could get a Pfizer booster dose (J&J isn't recommend for women between certain ages due to blood clots). I had every intention of sticking with Moderna, as I had the first time, however, I did Pfizer for my booster dose.
That's a long winded story, but to make it short: I still needed to get my yearly flu shot, which we get for free through our insurance company as long as we go to a CVS pharmacy. CVS only had Pfizer on hand. To keep things simple and not have me running around all week to different pharmacies, I decided to get both the Pfizer booster and the flu shot at the same time. In the same arm. Busy weekday schedules are no joke.
The actual shot was nothing. Easy peasy, I was in and out in five minutes. I did make an appointment ahead of time, which helped get it done quickly. Otherwise, there was a wait time for those who walked in. An appointment is recommended because there were a lot of people waiting for their booster shots as well. Much like the first and second doses, I was fine the night of.
The next morning my arm was sore and I was more tired than usual. As the day wore on, I had body aches. Taking Tylenol helped and I woke up the next day (so 36ish hours after the booster) feeling good as new. My arm was still a bit sore, but nothing that kept me down. What surprised me was later that night (48 hours after the booster) I developed a swollen arm pit (on the arm that had the booster). Something similar happened after my second dose, so I wasn't shocked or worried about it. The actual injection site has been completely fine. Zero swelling, no bruising, and no redness this time around.
Nearly 72 hours later, my arm is no longer sore, but my arm pit continues to be slightly swollen. The swelling is causing little to no discomfort, it's only irritating because I can feel that it's swollen. It could be from getting both the Covid booster and flu shot at same time, but I continue to watch it and apply heat/ice when I feel necessary. But that's it. No other issues, no concerns.
I've been asked a few times if I felt it was necessary to get my booster and for me, the answer is a big YES! I work with young kids who will not be eligible yet for a Covid vaccine. We have high risk people we love in our lives. I did this so we can see them, spend time with them, and most importantly enjoy our holidays. Fingers crossed that we're a week away from our entire family being vaccinated. For us, this means we can do things that were once normal to us without worry. We're hopeful it will bring back some normalcy to our lives. That's my biggest reason.