#IGotTheShot - The Covid-19 Vaccine is here!

Thousands of healthcare workers, frontline staff, and residents of long-term care facilities across the country received the Pfizer covid-19 vaccine last week. They took to instagram to share their stories under the hashtag #IGotTheShot. We compiled many on our IG page - you can check out the highlighted story @ www.instagram.com/dancingwithyourdoc

Though many people remain skeptical, this vaccine represents a huge scientific accomplishment as it is the first mRNA vaccine in history. This means the vaccine has no virus in it. Rather, it has the instructions to tell the body how to create the spike protein on the coronavirus. Those instructions quickly degrade, but your body receives the information needed to recognize the virus protein and mount a specific immune response by creating antibodies. It's quite an elegant solution.

Dr. Tiana Woolridge, Resident Pediatrician @ UCSF

We, here at Dancing with your Doctor, read the clinical trials and believe the science. The 2 month safety data show no serious adverse effects. Though ideally we'd have at least one year of follow-up data, the mechanism of the vaccine makes long-term side effects unlikely. And because so many people are suffering from and dying of coronavirus, we must act quickly. A little fatigue, injection site pain, diarrhea, and/or low-grade fever is just evidence that your body is mounting an adequate response.

Like most people, we can't wait until the vaccine is widely available so that we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming!

Ezekiel Adigun, MD

Founder: Dancing with your Doctor