During my first vaccination I barely felt the needle go through my skin, yet today I even felt the substance in the vaccination. Almost immediately I was able to tell that the substance was a lot stronger.

Mayra Moreno is a Criminology, Law, & Society student. Mayra lives in Perris, California. She has been living in the same house and city for about 18 years. Mayra is an active community member who volunteers with youth-oriented community organizations in Riverside county, and has served her local church, elementary school, and local community college. Mayra wrote three field diary entries about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

When the two members searching for appointments made it clear to the family that they were in search of an appointment, a variety of opinions and statements flooded the dinning room. Questions like “why are you getting it?” “you trust the government?” and comments such as “they made the vaccine to quick” “no one knows the long-term side effects yet” “you’ll be the first zombie case in the family” were made. Consequently, the difference in opinions steered up a heated debate and a conspiracy regarding the vaccine was brought up.

Moreno, April 6th, 2021, “Zombie Vaccine”

Perhaps after hearing all the conspiracies and estimates in line had an effect on me. When I sat down and waited for the nurse to give me my shot, I began to get nervous and thousands of questions ran through my head. “How will my body react this time?” “What if I suddenly have a reaction” my heart raced during the process but I can 100% say that I do not believe water was being injected onto me. I do not believe water would give me a headache and fever. I do wish people would stop spreading false information, it would be rather unfortunate if someone skipped out on the vaccination because they heard the vaccination was water. 

Moreno, May 12th, 2021, “2nd Dose”

Initially after getting the shot, I did not feel any extreme symptoms, however I will say that the second dose for me was a lot stronger than the first. During my first vaccination I barely felt the needle go through my skin, yet today I even felt the substance in the vaccination. Almost immediately I was able to tell that the substance was a lot stronger. I reflected on my past mistake with the first vaccine and began moving my arm so my arm wouldn’t be so sore tomorrow. Yet, at night I woke up to a sharp pain in my arm. I wasn’t even able to move my arm without wincing in pain. After trying to fall back asleep I soon felt extreme heat. The room felt very hot and as I turned to the side my sister that also got the shot was shivering. I asked if she was cold and when she said she was freezing I was wondering what was going on in the room. We were in two different extremes as I was sweating, she was gritting her teeth out of coldness. It was so hot how could she be so cold? Turns out we both had a fever.

Moreno, May 12th-13th, “Symptoms”