Eli Garcia was so excited to receive his COVID-19 vaccination that he quickly posted the experience on Instagram. Garcia, a technician/imager for the University of Miami School of Medicine in the Ophthalmology Department at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, “was very excited to learn that the University of Miami was starting to administer the Pfizer vaccine to the frontline health care workers who wanted to volunteer to be part of the first group of people getting it,” he says.
Garcia’s response: Sign me up! “I did not hesitate to respond and schedule my appointment for Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020,” he says. “I was very excited to arrive Saturday morning at the University in downtown Miami. After a quick check-in, I was told after the first vaccine I had to schedule a second vaccine in exactly 21 days.”
The vaccination could not have gone more smoothly. “I couldn’t even feel anything, to be honest,” he recalls. “I was put under observation for 15 minutes after the vaccine to ensure there were no side effects. So far, I have no symptoms or side effects associated with the vaccine other than mild ache around the vaccination site. I’m looking forward to the second phase of the process which will take place Jan. 9. I’m hopeful that this would be the beginning of a containment process for COVID-19 and I’m very honored to be in the first group of people at the University of Miami to get the vaccine.”
