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Pain, Headache, Relief Six women from Racine County share their post-vaccination experiences on local news

Gayle May, in front, smiles from under her mask, her husband Bill May sits behind it.


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Gayle May, a 66-year-old Army veteran and retired postman, looks forward to hugging her mother for the first time in a year. She got her second dose of vaccine on February 12th, and her mother was also vaccinated.

While May, who lives in Wind Point, remains cautious by masking herself and continuing to distance herself socially – as research suggests those vaccinated against COVID-19 may still be carriers – she finally feels safe enough to to hug their loved ones, especially their mother.

Michele LaBucki

Michele LaBucki receives a COVID-19 vaccination.


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“It’s a bit disappointing because I know a lot of people who don’t get vaccinated, don’t wear masks and don’t distance themselves socially. Because of this, we have to wear masks and social distancing even longer, ”said Michele LaBucki, 52, who received her first dose on January 18 and her second on February 8.

Lacey Schreiber


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A nurse in New Berlin

Lacey Schreiber, a 34-year-old mother of two who lives in Raymond and works as a licensed practical nurse at an Advocate Aurora Health facility in New Berlin, was nervous about the vaccine in 2020. She feared that it was “done too quickly. As she found out more about it, she thought of her mother, who has multiple sclerosis and is therefore much more likely to have serious complications or die when she catches COVID-19.

Schreiber worked for some time in a COVID ward and in the intensive care unit. She watched a patient die the same age as her parents. That had an impact on her and why she was ready to have her first dose on January 6th and the second dose almost a month later.

“I help take care of my grandma,” she said. “It is better for me to be with my family now that I have been vaccinated because I know that I am helping my family and my patients.”

She looked forward to life after the pandemic and encouraged others to get vaccinated as soon as possible and to continue following COVID protocols before and after vaccination. “We see so many patients who are mentally injured because they are not close to their families.”

Dameta Smith

Dameta Smith, who lives in Mount Pleasant, received two doses of COVID-19 while working as a case manager at Kenosha Children’s Hospital. She took this selfie after receiving her first dose.


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Case manager for children

Dameta Smith said she was initially “skeptical” about the vaccine and didn’t want to be among the first to get the shot. But when I thought about it and my job (a case manager at the Kenosha Clinic Children’s Hospital in Wisconsin) offered it, I thought, why not now?

Smith, a 43-year-old mother of teenage daughter who lives in Mount Pleasant, posted on Facebook after the first dose. Some people cheered her. Other misinformed friends responded with reproach and concern for fear of “becoming a zombie” and other absurdities: “I’m trying to save lives. If this helps my mother or daughter, I’ll get it. “

Like most, her symptoms after vaccination were bothersome but not debilitating. “I was extremely tired, I was very tight, I got a rash, then I was only tired for three or four days.” After that, she felt normal again and felt safer around her mother.

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Freda Barkley, who lives in Racine and works for Women and Children’s Horizons Inc. in Kenosha, said in an email, “I feel extremely blessed to have received both doses.” Diabetic and cancer survivor. Many family members and friends ask me, “Why did I take it?” I took it because with all of the other medications I was taking, another temporary drug was okay with me. I trust the scientists. Every person who takes the vaccine is helping our community heal. I will not infect or potentially harm my loved ones with COVID. “

“You don’t know if you will be the one.”

LaBucki was one of those who wasn’t afraid of vaccination. “Give it to me as soon as you can. I tried to register for legal proceedings. I was ready to try anything … It was a breeze to get it. “LaBucki is from Milwaukee and now lives in Caledonia. However, he works as an occupational therapy assistant in a nursing home in Illinois. During the course of 2020, she saw more than half of the residents of the nursing home catch COVID, some of whom died.

One woman, LaBucki said, one day said to her, “I love you, I love you, I love you” and was dead 24 hours later. Others, not much older than LaBucki, showed up for therapy appointments and struggled at all moving as they recovered from coronavirus affecting the whole body.

“You see this all happening and you don’t know if you will be the one who has a cough and a headache or the one who cannot breathe in a hospital,” she said of the fear of catching COVID. 19th

May got a headache for a day or two after receiving the first dose, but she said her 90-year-old mother had no side effects other than a sore arm.

Debbie Wells

Similarly, Debbie Wells, a 44-year-old who works in the Racine mental health community, said she had “no symptoms” after being vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine other than “a little.” sore arm “.


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“A bit sore arm”

Similarly, Debbie Wells, a 44-year-old who works in the Racine mental health community, said she had “no symptoms” from the vaccine, other than “a little bit sore arm.” Even after she signed COVID-19 in January; The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended that those who have had COVID should continue to be vaccinated because of the numerous strains of the coronavirus. Wells is also one of the lucky ones as those who have already had COVID are more likely to get sick in the days after the vaccination.

Commenting on the vaccine, May said, “There are people who have reservations about this. I don’t know they should. “

LaBucki added: They don’t know what the side effects (of a vaccine) will be. But that’s better than any of the side effects of COVID. “

Sandra Lindsay leads the way

Sandra Lindsay leads the way

Sandra Lindsay, left, a nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, will be greeted by Dr. Michelle Chester vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.


Mark Lennihan via Associated Press

A historic moment

A historic moment

Tina Schubert, a respiratory therapist at UW Health, was the first UW Health employee to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. She may have been the first person in Wisconsin to receive the vaccine since it was approved last week.


Photo courtesy of UW Health

Hannah White celebrates in Oklahoma

Hannah White celebrates in Oklahoma

Hannah White, left, a nurse and the first person in the state of Oklahoma to receive the coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer, greets Acting Oklahoma State Health Commissioner Dr. Lance Frye, right, after receiving her injection at Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City on Monday, December 14, 2020.


Sue Ogrocki, Associated Press

Syringes

Syringes

UW Health received 3,900 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Monday from Pfizer, which received federal emergency clearance late last week.


JOHN MANIACI, UW HEALTH

First doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Madison

First doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Madison

The first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine arrived on Monday morning. UW Health’s first employees will receive the vaccine this afternoon in accordance with federal and state guidelines to begin vaccinating frontline health workers.


Courtesy of UW Health

First doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Madison

First doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Madison

The first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine arrived on Monday morning. UW Health’s first employees will receive the vaccine this afternoon in accordance with federal and state guidelines to begin vaccinating frontline health workers.


Courtesy of UW Health

First doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Madison

First doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Madison

The first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine arrived on Monday morning. UW Health’s first employees will receive the vaccine this afternoon in accordance with federal and state guidelines to begin vaccinating frontline health workers.


Courtesy of UW Health

Vaccine in a bottle

Vaccine in a bottle


Courtesy of UW Health

Other vaccinations

Other vaccinations

Dr. Ann Sheehy and Nursing Team Leader Mavic Tjardes were also among the first group of frontline workers to be vaccinated Monday at UW Health in Madison.


Courtesy of UW Health

Other vaccinations

Other vaccinations

Dr. Ann Sheehy and Nursing Team Leader Mavic Tjardes were also among the first group of frontline workers vaccinated today.


Courtesy of UW Health




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Clockwise from left: Dameta Smith, Debbie Wells, Gayle May, Lacey Schreiber and Michele LaBucki.


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