When Emerson Allen got his second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine recently, he said the process was “smooth sailing.”
When Allen, a Vietnam-era veteran, got a call from the Veteran’s Affairs Hospital about registering for a vaccination, he jumped at the chance.
“Oh, heck no! I wasn’t hesitant,” Allen, 67, said. “My neighbor and one of my best friends died of the COVID, and three of my daughters caught the virus and all recovered. So it hit close to home.”
Aspen Clemons, 30, was initially wary of getting vaccinated. After becoming eligible through her work, she decided to get the Pfizer vaccine after hearing it was safe from a Black health care professional she trusted.
After her second dose, Clemons felt soreness at the injection site and flu-like symptoms, including chills, a low-grade fever and exhaustion, all of which lasted 24 hours, she said.
Allen’s symptoms were less severe.
“I worked the day of the shot, and I got a slight headache at work,” Allen said of his second dose. “But I don’t know if it was from the shot or the fact that I had to go to work. … I took two Tylenol and that was it.”
Clemons and Allen are part of the roughly 9.6% of Hoosiers fully vaccinated (nearly 17% of Hoosiers have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine). However, neither have any plans to “get back to normal” right away. Both Clemons and Allen say they will continue to wear a mask in public and to socially distance until more Hoosiers are vaccinated.
Kristen Kelly, nursing director of infection prevention at Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital, said she’d like to see vaccination rates reach at least 70% before Indiana begins loosening mask restrictions. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on March 8 announced fully vaccinated people can have small gatherings indoors without masks.
“It’s a really encouraging sign that we’re starting to take down some of the requirements,” Kelly said. “But I don’t think it should be an all-or-nothing approach. We need to keep slowly scaling back some of the interventions that we put forward as vaccines rise. … You can forgo a mask at small gatherings if everyone is fully vaccinated but continue to wear a mask and socially distance if you’re out in public.”
Despite initial concerns that African Americans may be less likely to get vaccinated due to medical mistrust and mistreatment from the health care industry, Kelly said she has seen a “really high buy-in” from African Americans in Marion County, largely thanks to people sharing their experiences.
“What’s been most effective is people having a great experience at our clinic and sharing that with their loved ones and friends, who have in turn come in and gotten the vaccine,” Kelly said. “One of the most influential factors in getting the vaccine is seeing the people who you trust get vaccinated.”
It’s unknown if COVID-19 vaccinations will need to be an annual occurrence, but Allen said he’s willing to do whatever it takes to curb the virus and keep the community safe.
“I encourage everyone to go and get the shot,” Allen said. “Talk to your doctor and learn what you need to know, and then go for it.”
Contact staff writer Breanna Cooper at 317-762-7848. Follow her on Twitter @BreannaNCooper.
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