I didn’t even try to park in the parking lot of the long-term care home where my mother resides – I knew it would be full on this special day. This was the occasion so many of us had been anticipating: Vaccination Day.

I completed the usual screening process – having my temperature taken and showing my latest negative COVID test results. For the first time in two months, I was not required to don a gown – the COVID outbreak at the home had finally been vanquished.

Upon arrival at my mother’s room, our family’s private caregiver greeted me. As my mother’s other essential caregiver, she too was receiving the vaccine. I felt an atmosphere of suppressed excitement in the air – whether it was imagined or real, I couldn’t tell. I just knew that I was thrilled about having the privilege of being at the front of the line to get the COVID vaccine. Never before had I been so excited about getting a needle!

Receiving the vaccine so early was an unexpected benefit of being one of my mother’s two designated essential caregivers. I had to admit that initially I had been hesitant about whether I should get the vaccine at all. The clinical trials and vaccine production all felt a bit rushed, and the mRNA technology was new. But then I heard a medical expert in the media state that the risks associated with getting COVID itself were far greater than any risks from taking the vaccine. That sealed my decision. And I reasoned that nothing in life is ever completely risk-free.

Being at the front of the line to get the vaccine also made me feel guilty initially – after all, I was basically hale and hearty, not a member of a high-risk group. But I quickly realized that being inoculated would protect my mother and all the other elderly and frail residents in the home. I felt it was my duty to keep them safe.

After an hour of waiting, the nurses administering the vaccine turned up on our unit. We were ready – jackets off, arms bared, wearing short-sleeved t-shirts, as we had been instructed to do. The three of us stood in the doorway of my mother’s room, awaiting our turn as the team moved down the hallway. The nurses appeared, unrecognizable, swathed from head to toe in personal protective equipment – gowns, surgical caps and masks, gloves and face shields.

My mother was first. Then it was my turn. The medical team confirmed my name and birthdate. As the nurse rubbed my upper arm with an alcohol swab, I remarked, “That liquid you have in your syringe is the most precious commodity on earth right now.” She nodded in agreement. The jab was quick and painless. Then our caregiver had her turn. It was such a momentous event, that we all had our photos taken during our shots!

Over the next 15 minutes, medical staff checked on us periodically to make sure no one was having an allergic reaction. Happily, we were all feeling just fine. As I left the home, I realized I was counting the days to get the second dose of the vaccine. I could hardly wait.

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That was January 14^th. My mother, our caregiver and I received our second vaccinations on February 11^th. But nothing has really changed for my mother or me since that time. Her home went back into outbreak about two weeks after our first vaccination – for a time three of the five people residing in my mother’s hallway on her unit of the long-term care home were COVID positive. It was a very scary time and I was afraid to answer every time I saw the home’s number pop up on my phone, but fortunately my mother never tested positive (and as far as I know all three of the ill residents survived). At present the statistics stand at ~95% of residents and ~68% of staff in my mother’s home having been vaccinated. Recently two staff on my mother’s floor have tested positive and she has once again been isolated in her room for the past three weeks – very disappointing and frustrating.

On a happier note, I have been pleased to hear how many of my friends are becoming eligible to be vaccinated “in the community” and they are signing up as quickly as they can to get the actual jab. The Boyfriend and my children will have to wait a while yet, and I continue to worry about their wellbeing. Meanwhile, we all need to be patient and follow the same rules that have been in effect for a year now as we watch the “third wave” develop. Fortunately the vaccine rollout seems to be picking up speed – let’s hold on to that hope. Please stay safe and well!

NOTE: An edited version of this essay was published in the March 2021 edition of Neighbours of Windfields magazine. Click here to read it.