As we approach the one-year mark for the COVID-19 pandemic shut down, many of us have looked back upon the last 365 days. Many of us reflect on how our own lives have changed, but we should also look upon several amazing scientific achievements. The biggest achievement is undoubtedly the creation of the COVID-19 vaccination. I have spent some time interviewing eleven teachers (at random) to find out their experiences with the COVID-19 vaccine. 

The general consensus was that finding a vaccine and booking an appointment in New York is a bit difficult, but Mrs. Jennings as well as others at Notre Dame have been a tremendous asset in relaying information and getting appointments. Trying to find an open appointment for a long time was next to impossible, and Dr. Hazelton even jokingly referred to it as the “Vaccine Hunger Games.” People would spend hours on websites waiting for a vaccine appointment to be open, just to have it taken by another person who was able to click faster! Mrs. Agan was lucky to find an open vaccination site for teachers where she was able to find a vaccine in January! Out of eleven teachers, only one has not received a vaccine. Coach Young mentioned that he had originally wanted to allow other older and perhaps more “at-risk” faculty and staff to have access to a vaccine before he got one. Now that the majority have been vaccinated he is looking forward to booking that appointment! Several of the teachers received their vaccinations at different locations including the Arnot Ogden Hospital, SUNY Binghamton, and the Aviation Center.  All of these locations were reported to be incredibly organized on-site, especially at SUNY Binghamton. The wait time at the centers was about 10 minutes on average to get the vaccine, and most teachers were completely done within an hour! Mrs. Drehmer mentioned that about 1700 vaccines were given daily at SUNY Bing! While there are three available vaccines, the Moderna vaccine was used by 9 out of the 10 vaccinated teachers interviewed. Mr. Pipher noted that he received the Pfizer vaccine and almost received Moderna for his second! Fortunately he caught the mix up in time and he was able to get everything straightened out. Luckily, for the most part, besides sore arms, slight headaches, and some body aches most teachers did not have any horrible reactions. Unfortunately, Señora Liriano, Mrs. Tanner and Mr. Rominger did not share in the same luck the majority shared and they all had pretty severe chills, aches, and fatigue. After about 48 hours they were all feeling well and recovered! A few of the teachers are still waiting for that second dose, so we wish them to have no problems or reactions!!