One of the biggest news stories in the past couple of weeks has been the deliverance of the COVID-19 vaccine to the area, as it marks the “beginning of the end” of the COVID pandemic.
One of the first people to receive the vaccine was Dr. Sarah Lulloff, the executive Medical Director of Infectious Disease, HSHS hospitals in Eastern Wisconsin. We spoke with Dr. Lulloff, who explained that her experience with the vaccine was similar to that of a tetanus shot. She said, “My arm was just a little bit sore for the afternoon after I got vaccinated. [There was] a little bit of soreness the next day, but I would say it was gone by the evening time. I was working through this; I was doing tests around the house and I felt fine.”
Lulloff also explained that “It’s important for people to understand that the effects you feel on day one through three days after the vaccine, are part the body’s way of mounting an immune response to the vaccine.” Lullof did receive the Pfizer vaccine, but she expects similar results from any future uses of the Moderna vaccine. She said, “They’re both Messenger RNA vaccines, so the technology is very similar, and the reports from the clinical trails really outline a very similar side effect profile.”
About 4,000 employees at the HSHS and Prevea Hospitals are expected to receive a COVID-19 vaccine when all is said and done, but as of earlier this week, a total of 800 of those employees have received the shot. Lulloff called the moment their shipment of vaccines arrived a “very joyful and celebratory moment.”
