COVID Vaccine Follow Up Care

Woo Hoo! 
We here at SFIM are proud to be vaccinated.

It feels good taking this step forward to serve you more safely.

​We know it is important that we be transparent about our choices. We realize that many people have concerns about the vaccine, so we want you to know how we made our decisions.

We, too, had concerns but we did our research and talked with each other and other health care providers. We weighed our concerns, our research, the enormous toll the pandemic is taking, and our commitment as healthcare practitioners to do no harm. We concluded that getting vaccinated as soon as we’re eligible is the right decision for us.  Here we are a few weeks later, feeling lucky to have gotten it. 
Jennifer and Elanita both received the Moderna vaccine and agree that the first dose was much easier to handle than the second dose.  While we experienced nausea, chills, mild fever, swollen lymph nodes, headaches, and fatigue about 12 hours after the second dose, symptoms had mostly resolved after 36-48 hours and we don't have one ounce of regret. We understood that our symptoms we're really side effects per say but an immune response which is what we wanted. 

youre getting the vaccine, now what

Here are some suggestions for minimizing the side effects of the vaccine. 

• It’s a good idea to go into the vaccine being well rested, well hydrated, and well nourished. The vaccine is "asking” a lot of your body. So give it the best chance you can. 
• To lessen arm pain, we used a strategy of arm movement immediately afterwards, and reported minimal soreness that did last a few days. 
• Another effective strategy is to use a topical liniment or salve over the injection site. If you have one of these on hand, use it after the injection and repeatedly throughout the next 24-48 hours: BioFreeze or arnica gel.  We loved our Pain Away CBD Salve. If you don't have any at home, contact our front desk and we can get some to you before your first shot (its also great for aches and pains in general).
• The variety of other symptoms include: fatigue, body aches, chills, irritability, etc, more so after the 2nd than the first. But don’t assume you’ll feel badly, my husband had very minimal symptoms after both doses.. I think this is a case of hope for the best, plan for the possibility of feeling crappy for a few days. Don't plan a heavy schedule the next day or two after the vaccine. If you do feel poorly, remind yourself you are not sick (you cannot get COVID from the vaccine), this will pass, and thank your body for learning how to defend itself!
• If your symptoms are severe (which is very rare), we are here to help and support how ever we can but please call your medical doctor first or contact your injection site. 
  • These include symptoms like difficulty breathing, swelling and inflammation that does not resolve,  injection site infections, etc. 
  • We have great herbal formulas and advice ready for you after you discuss serious symptoms with your MD.

thats great - but how do I even sign up to get the vaccine

Contact your primary care provider, insurance provider or County or City Health Department where you live or work for further information about vaccine clinics and availability

• Alameda County
• Contra Costa County
• City of Berkeley
• Marin County
• City and County of San Francisco

If this doesn't work - let us know we are here to help make sure you get the resources you need.