Dr. Jon LaPook

How am I feeling, a bit more than two days since getting the Pfizer vaccine to help prevent Covid-19?

About 28 hours after getting the Pfizer vaccine to help prevent Covid-19. Still feeling great!

12/24/20, 6:55A, about 19 hours after I received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine against #covid_19

Getting the vaccine felt exactly the same to me as getting a flu shot. I felt a little pinch, and am still feel fine two hours later. No big deal. What I felt most was a mixture of emotions - all good. I was caught by surprise by tearing up as I started to describe how I was feeling for our CBS News camera. I guess the weight of all these months - taking care of patients, trying to keep myself, my loved ones, my friends, and so many others safe, coupled with the tension-fille...d job of reporting on the pandemic - caught up with me. I felt a flood of relief, though I know I may not be adequately protected until about a week after the second shot in 21 days. I felt gratitude that vaccines are becoming available less than a year after we recognized there was a novel coronavirus. And I felt amazement at the scientific accomplishment. I know logically about the decades of research that led to my being immunized. I understand how a tiny piece of genetic code - messenger RNA - stashed away inside a protective lipid nanoparticle creates immunity to SARS-CoV-2 by tricking the immune system into thinking it’s being attacked by the virus. But there’s also a part of me that looks at this astounding achievement as pure magic. See more

Giving consent for the Pfizer vaccine.