Covid-19 has been actively taking lives and affecting millions of people for over a year now. Just a year ago, the CDC was recommending to quarantine and leave the house as little as possible. Now, they are recommending you get your Covid-19 vaccine. As of December 2020, scientists finally created three different vaccines to give out to emergency workers. The three types created included Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson / Janssen.

On April 13, the CDC and FDA put a pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to abundance of caution. The CDC says in a message on their website, “People who have received the J&J/Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine within the past three weeks who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath should seek medical care right away.”

When Tanya Duncan, a pharmacist at the Monett Walmart, was interviewed about information on the vaccine, she had a lot to give. She started off by saying at her store (which gives the Moderna vaccine), they give “anywhere from 10 - 80 vaccine injections per day.” She went on to say, “The most common side effect is injection site pain, but headache, body aches, chill or low grade fever are also seen.”

The CDC says that these side effects start within a day or two of getting the vaccine. The side effects may affect the ability to do daily activities but should go away within a few days. When Duncan was asked if there is anybody who should NOT get the vaccine, she responded, “Any person who has had a severe or immediate allergic reaction to a precious dose OR any component of the vaccine should not get it.” She continued that with, “We give Moderna so people allergic to PEG (polyethylene glycol) should not get the Moderna vaccine.”

As of now, only people of 18 years or older are eligible to receive the Moderna vaccine. She also added that “people on certain blood products, high dose steroids, chemotherapy’s, or who have had skin testing or other vaccines recently may need to wait to get the vaccine.” Both Duncan and the CDC say that people who have had Covid are still recommended to get the vaccine. She went on to explain that the vaccine is sent to the store frozen and stored under strict conditions, it must thaw before use and they must use any opened vial within 12 hours. She then ended her response by recommending the app Vsafe, “a website/smartphone tool that will track a person's experience after getting the vaccine and people can report any side effects easily.”

According to the CDC, nearly all of this also applies to the Pfizer vaccine. Based on evidence from clinical trials, the Pfizer vaccine is 95% effective while Moderna is 94.1%. With both, people would need 2 doses. With Moderna, the doses being 4 weeks (28 days) apart and Pfizer being 3 weeks (21 days) apart. As of April 19, 2021, those 16 years and older became eligible for the Pfizer vaccine. Additionally, as of February 27, 2021, “large-scale (Phase 3) clinical trials are in progress or being planned for two COVID-19 vaccines in the United States: AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine​.”

What is motivation?

Motivation is defined as “the attribute that moves us to do or not to do something.” It can be either intrinsic or extrinsic.

Intrinsic motivation is “motivation animated by personal enjoyment, interest, or pleasure.” Basically, it's an internal desire to accomplish a task. This is like the motivation you have to read a book or go for a walk. You do it because it brings you joy, makes you feel good, and interests you.

Extrinsic motivation is “motivation governed by reinforcement contingencies.” This is when you complete a task because an outside force is providing you a reason to. Someone or something other than yourself is encouraging you to engage in a certain behavior. This can look like studying for a test because you want a good grade, or cleaning the kitchen so your mom doesn’t ground you. While these actions don’t particularly please you, the outcome does.

Motivation and Learning

When you are younger, all you do is learn. Your motivation during this period in your life can directly correlate with your motivation in the future. As you get older, your motivation to learn begins to decrease. This occurrence stems from a recently discovered brain circuit.

Aside from aging, many mental health disorders can also have a negative effect on your ability to weigh cost vs. reward. Examples of things that can do this are depression, anxiety, and even PTSD. The hope is that scientists can create a drug that could possibly stimulate this circuit in these individuals.

This particular circuit is “important for learning to make decisions that require evaluating the cost and reward that come with a particular action.” As you age, the functions of this circuit begin to decrease. Basically, as you get older, your ability to determine that passing a test is not worth the struggle of studying begins to disappear. Suddenly, being grounded doesn’t sound quite as bad, as long as you don’t have to do those dishes.

In another part of your brain, the Striatum, there are little clusters of cells floating around, known as striosomes. These tiny things help you decide if you want to take the good with the bad, or avoid both in a scenario. When you’re weighing the pros and cons of moving away from all your friends and family in order to get a good job with a high pay, your striosomes are firing away! Another example of this would be deciding if you want to leave your friend’s house in order to study for a big test.

Improving your motivation

School can often be the biggest challenge for those who are already struggling with motivation. There are several things that can be done to help with this.

The first step is to acknowledge your negative feelings towards completing school-related tasks, but to not run away from the job at hand. Don’t try to trick yourself into believing you want to do this, but try not to allow yourself to not do it either.

That being said, don’t beat yourself up for procrastinating now and then. Avoiding the task is to be expected sometimes seeing as you’re only human, and humans make mistakes. Try to recognize the habit and address it so that it isn’t a problem in the future.

Another thing that can help is personalizing your study style a little bit. Find what works for you and run with it. Don’t put yourself down, and try to remember that studying and working, while maybe uncomfortable, will ultimately have a positive effect on you.

Try taking an approach that is based on time. Set a timer for a period of time that works for you (whether it be a long or short period, every little thing counts!), and make sure you take ALL of that time focusing on your task. You don’t necessarily have to do anything physically towards your goal. Just taking the time to think about it is helping you.

Finally, talk to people and express that you are struggling. No one should have to go through it alone.