How did you celebrate / commemorate being vaccinated?

July 17, 2021 9:26 AM

I've just got my first Pfizer shot, and I'm feeling a strong need to mark this occasion. Both in a public way, to help spread the message that being vaccinated is normal and good, and privately, just for myself, as it feels like such an important event. Did you feel this way too, and what did you do about it?

I shared my photos on social media and that felt good. I hope some of my vaccine hesitant friends and family will see that and it will make a difference. I was thinking could I get a badge? A ring? A tattoo? Meditating on the developing antibodies in my body? A flag to attach to my bicycle?
Things are very intense here in South Africa right now, with the looting and unrest, and the third wave very much gaining momentum. It would feel good to do something visibly celebratory and maybe even a bit silly.

posted by Zumbador to Grab Bag (40 answers total)

I went and got froyo.
posted by holgate at 9:29 AM on July 17, 2021 [4 favorites]

I am in California. I went to microcovid.org and typed some scenarios in, and updated my personal vaccination records. I also lingered a little at the grocery store and have stopped wearing my mask to take my dog outside to pee.
posted by aniola at 9:30 AM on July 17, 2021 [4 favorites]

For breakfast 15 days after my wife's second Pfizer, I busted out vegan cookies, gold balloons, mimosas (sparkling water + orange juice for the kids) and put Nina Simone's Feeling Good on the Bluetooth speaker.
posted by rpophessagr at 9:31 AM on July 17, 2021 [14 favorites]

I went to Target maskless! Felt so weird!
posted by bbqturtle at 9:32 AM on July 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

Woohoo! I had a timer - down to the minute - on my phone (timer app) for my “Immunity Day” and when it went off I did a happy dance. Then that night my spouse and I went to dinner and cocktails (outdoors… because still cautious) in my town. Then the next day I had a hair appointment!!
posted by rogerroger at 9:48 AM on July 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

feels like such an important event. Did you feel this way too, and what did you do about it?

No, no big deal. Just a shot; get 'em all the time (at a minimum, the annual flu shot). Only difference with these two was the extra hassle associated with getting them. Felt a little protected initially but since we all still have to wear masks (and my spouse isn't yet compelled to go in to work) being vaccinated hasn't made any real change in my life, yet. It would be different if authorities were checking my vaccination card, and then allowing me to board the airplane or enter somewhere maskless, but that doesn't happen, not in California.
posted by Rash at 9:49 AM on July 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

I looked at my wife and said “well, assuming we manage to not mess up in the next five weeks, this is probably over for us soon.” (This was before delta). We both had read stories of the hump in infections right after the first shot, from people letting their guard down, and agreed to be extra-careful.

Two weeks after our second shot, when the medical community agrees you have solid protection, we moved to a bigger apartment, adopted a new cat (one of ours passed during the pandemic and I had to wait outside the vet’s due to restrictions. It sucked.) and saw my in-laws for the first time in 16 months. That was the actual celebration, but it was more an “exhalation,” for me.
posted by Alterscape at 9:53 AM on July 17, 2021 [4 favorites]

We get takeout for all shots (like, after our flu shots as well) so we did that. Thanks to the Ontario rollout we ended up with multiple occasions for takeout! So we had Jamaican (jerk chicken, rice and peas, festivals, coleslaw, and oxtail gravy), Afghani kebobs, Sri Lankan basmati + tandoori chicken +samosas, Osmos shawarma (I had Beyond Meat which was not actually the greatest but it was a nice option to have) and AW&W, over the first and second appointments for the multiple family members so far.

I have a 10 year old, so we will have two more takeout meals ahead for Covid. i'll be a bit sad if we have flu shots in between but I suspect we will.
posted by warriorqueen at 9:58 AM on July 17, 2021 [4 favorites]

Many of my friends have been posting on social media when they get their first shot with a school crest that they have joined House Moderna or House Astra-Zeneca or House Pfizer etc. and then everyone else replies with congratulations and memes and thank yous. As well as making a second social media post, with the same sorts of congratulations and acclamation, many of them have planned day trips for the two week anniversary of their second vaccination - They are going to a beach, or a café or finally getting to actually see their in-laws and not stand in the front yard and yell while muffled, but go inside the house and sit down.
posted by Jane the Brown at 9:59 AM on July 17, 2021 [4 favorites]

I teared up at both shots, shot-givers said this is a common reaction. Vax location has a wall, paper, pens, for people to make small signs, and later added a selfie background.

Celebration? My dance group has resumed, and it feels great to be among people doing something we love in person.
posted by theora55 at 10:11 AM on July 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

I'm a vaccine researcher, so I'm another person who has had my share of shots. I've been part of several clinical trials. And yet, this one felt very different. I'm sure that anything you're drawn to in the moment is a good thing to do.

I got my first Moderna shot on the day of Biden's inauguration. That felt spectacular. I was genuinely on cloud nine all day, and I biked around the city smiling at everyone from behind my mask. It was a gloriously sunny day. I took a selfie at the edge of the Bay, with Alcatraz behind me--something that previously would have felt so touristy that I'd have rolled my eyes at the thought--that I imagine I will remember forever.

The elation of people around me felt so incredibly good on that day that, after my second dose a couple weeks later, I felt the need to do the opposite. I got it in the evening, and it was a chilly night. I biked home in the dark, taking my time to go very slow and be more meditative. Thoughtful. Grateful. I let my heart swell for everyone else who hadn't gotten the privilege as early as I had, for everyone who had gotten ill and was struggling with persistent adverse effects, for everyone who hadn't made it, for everyone who still wouldn't make it.

I'm not very good about being grateful for things, speaking generally, but I've been trying to change that in the last few years. Since I got these doses, not a morning goes by when I don't sit on the edge of the bed after I wake up and briefly, silently, think, wow, I cannot believe we went from outbreak to vaccine in less than a year and humanity is capable of seeming miracles when we commit to it. I say my little grace. And then I get on with my day.

Congratulations on getting your first dose. Whatever you do it will be memorable.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 10:18 AM on July 17, 2021 [28 favorites]

I was excited for mine and it felt very significant, too. For each of our doses (we were on different days/schedules), my husband and I sort of treated it like a birthday - shot recipient gets to pick special takeout dinner and the movie for the night, or whatever. It felt joyous and lucky to be vaccinated and I’m glad we leaned in and made it an occasion all four times, even in such a minor way.
posted by superfluousm at 10:24 AM on July 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

2 weeks after my second shot, I visited my sister. She has missed human interaction all year and very much needed a visit.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 10:40 AM on July 17, 2021 [4 favorites]

Both my mom and I went to the grocery store across the way from the county vaccination site and bought pastries. I'm not sure why that was important to us--maybe because it was the first trip outside that hadn't been planned like a military invasion in over a year. It wasn't fancy, but it felt right. We just needed a little daylight.
posted by tchemgrrl at 10:43 AM on July 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

I made a donation through Arm in Arm which links to the WHO effort to give everyone in the world the vaccination, and shared that on social media. It felt a lot more substantial than just showing that I had been lucky enough to get mine!
posted by atlantica at 10:54 AM on July 17, 2021 [6 favorites]

I celebrated with nice coffee and pastries from the cafe near the vaccination site after both shots; my two week vacciniversary was also my birthday, and I celebrated by taking the full day off, doing an isolation tank float, and getting dinner with a good friend (outside, but only because it was a beautiful day, notif covid! The luxury!).
posted by mskyle at 11:01 AM on July 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

I bought, and wore to my second shot, a VACCINATED BECAUSE I'M NOT STUPID t-shirt.
posted by SPrintF at 11:08 AM on July 17, 2021 [3 favorites]

A few of my friends and I noticed on social media that we'd received the second shot at around the same time (< a week of each other.) So two weeks after the last person's second shot, we had a Shot Pod Party -- the first maskless gathering any of us had attended in over a year. It was mostly an outside house party (we were still a little skittish) but we could eat and drink and talk and make a bonfire, and still go into the house for this or that too and not worry. It was a great way to celebrate! Congratulations!
posted by nantucket at 11:28 AM on July 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

A day out in public - once we were both fully vaccinated.

Vaccine Freedom Day
posted by COD at 11:31 AM on July 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

As someone mentioned above, please make this day but please be cautious. I contact tracing we had to reach out to SOOOOO MANY people who were exposed between shots one and two because they let their guards down.

Personally, when a group of friends had been vaccinated as well we basically had a pod party.

There’s also many “vaccinated” stickers available on Etsy which I’ve plastered on my water bottles, laptop, etc.

Congrats!
posted by raccoon409 at 12:07 PM on July 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

Did you feel this way too
I did not. I don't actually know anyone who celebrated or commemorated being vaxxed being congratulating one another, so this thread has been a fun and fascinating read for me so far.

Probably the only time I've really thought about the fact that I'm vaccinated was during international travel.
posted by sm1tten at 12:35 PM on July 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

We bought tickets to Iceland. I guess I really did feel cooped up!
posted by shadygrove at 12:50 PM on July 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

My roommate counted down the 2 weeks after his shot and then went to the very first screening of a movie he could see in a theater, buying himself the biggest popcorn and the biggest soda he could. He was the only person in the 10 am screening of GODZILLA VS. KING KONG that day and instagrammed his feet propped up on the seats.

He then went to another movie and two other restaurants he'd been especially missing, occasionally instagramming other things along the way - just little vignettes that could have been from any time in particular.

Me, I went to a bathhouse and got an incredibly thorough massage and spent two hours lolling in a steam room.

My point being - you needn't necessarily commemorate or celebrate PUBLICALLY to celebrate. Do something to treat your own self.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:23 PM on July 17, 2021 [4 favorites]

I felt such intense euphoria on getting vaccinated that I was actually a little alarmed. I went home and shared this on Facebook (tRNA! GTP! woooo!)

Two weeks after my parents got their second shots, we met up in the mountains for a three-day camping weekend. It was my first vacation in 14 months, and we were also serendipitously celebrating my dad getting his green card the day right before.
posted by basalganglia at 1:58 PM on July 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

I bought myself several "I'm vaccinated" pins off Etsy. I wear them every time I go outside, and I bought extras to give out as gifts when people got vaccinated too.

On my "all clear" day I went for a walk outside, which I hadn't done in over a year, and two days later I went to outdoor dining with a friend who had just hit her all clear as well.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:04 PM on July 17, 2021 [4 favorites]

I also felt so excited. 2 weeks after my second, I got my first haircut since November 2019 and it felt amazing.
posted by ceramicblue at 2:08 PM on July 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

> I teared up at both shots, shot-givers said this is a common reaction.

Can confirm. I worked at a mass vaccination and people getting vaccines cried from emotions pretty often (the minority, but a significant chunk) and because I'm someone who cries at everything then I cried with them. The first kid who got a shot there? I'm tearing up now just thinking about how great it felt to be a part of that.

I didn't do anything to celebrate mine, because I was the only vaccinated person in my household. When the last of us got vaccinated, they held a party with a bunch of their vaccinated friends. It was so good to see the teens again that... I... cried.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:34 PM on July 17, 2021 [4 favorites]

I got my first shot much earlier than I expected, and found out about it five minutes in advance. So I "celebrated" by having all the feels and walking around a natural area nearby and feeling joyous and crying at the same time, while thinking of all things that had happened in the past year. Maybe just making some time and space to really think about everything?

For my second shot I celebrated by spending a day in bed feeling like crud, but feeling so happy to be able to have gotten that shot that made me feel like crud. Tip, eat a good breakfast the morning of the second shot, you might not feel like eating later.
posted by yohko at 3:06 PM on July 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

I didn't do anything in particular to celebrate, apart from a social media post. (I wish I had known about the House Pfizer thing though, I would have been all over it!) I was definitely grateful and thanked the nurse who did the jab perhaps a little too profusely. Two weeks after I attained full immunity, my city is back in lockdown, and while I could certainly wish the rollout had been managed better here so that the Delta variant didn't catch us quite so much with our pants down, I'm immensely grateful every time I go to the supermarket that I'm unlikely to get a disease that will require hospitalisation.
posted by Cheese Monster at 4:06 PM on July 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

I got a pedicure!
posted by amro at 5:35 PM on July 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

I have a needle phobia. I took a reward can of beer to the vaccination centre in my bag, as something to look forward to, then drank it, at 11am, by myself, in a park. It was delicious.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 5:40 PM on July 17, 2021 [12 favorites]

I welled up when I got the shot. I'm a large frame 6-1 210lbs and have a beard like a salty pirate that goes to mid chest. So when I sat still for a second after they told me I was done and to go wait my 15 minutes the nice girl got a little alarmed that something was wrong. I managed to get to my seat and then just kinda had a little soft weep. We waited 3 weeks and then I went to the grocery store and left my mask off for at least 5 minutes before I put it back on. It took me about 3 weeks to stop wearing it for most occasions.
posted by chasles at 6:23 PM on July 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

I remember some of your comments and I know the vaccine was not easily available for you. So Congratulations!!! I’m happy for you!!! I definitely cried a bit. What I ended up telling my friends is, “I never thought I would be emotional in Walgreens.” We texted photos of ourselves to each other. It’s a big moment. It means you can take a deep breath and relax a bit. Do you journal? It’s an occasion to write about and remember. I’d have a drink and cheers myself too!
posted by areaperson at 8:39 PM on July 17, 2021 [3 favorites]

In my household we always celebrate vaccines with donuts. So we did that. I also scheduled a lot of self care stuff I’d put off for dose 2+2 weeks: dentist, optometrist, haircut, cleaners, house contractors. And we started having picnics with friends outside again. Little eirias is too young for the vaccine so we still have to be conservative in many ways, but it was nice to have more degrees of freedom in our lives than we had earlier in the pandemic.
posted by eirias at 9:45 PM on July 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

It wasn't in the moment, but I did a motorbike road trip when my full coverage kicked in. I don't see vaccines as magic bullets that save me from every risky behaviour, but it was enough that I felt staying in motels was no longer the risk it was. (And I enjoyed the hell out of it.)
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 12:17 AM on July 18, 2021 [2 favorites]

I was in a town 45 minutes from home because that was the only place I have been able to make an appointment. So I wore a mask the whole time they’re on the bus and during the visit and back on the bus for the first vaccination. After the second vaccination, it was also a beautiful day. Still had my mask, but I went and bought some ice cream and then found a beautiful and largely deserted spot next to a creek in a park. I watched a mother duck and her ducklings march down a park path and get into the water. Then I took off my mask and had my ice cream and then put it back on and went home. It felt special to me because I was not going home immediately but taking extra time to enjoy myself in a lovely location.
posted by Bella Donna at 4:23 AM on July 18, 2021 [3 favorites]

I let out a rather loud and prolonged "PHEW!" And the weird thing: I was totally unaware that I had did it. The nurse said to me "that sounds like a huge load taken off" or something like that. That's it. I even turned down an invite to go to my favorite low and awful boozer. It just didn't feel right, celebrating and stuff.

But when I got home I made French Toast for my dinner. That's the extent of my celebrating.
posted by james33 at 8:46 AM on July 18, 2021 [3 favorites]

Once I was fully vaccinated (past my second dose) I scheduled a long session to dye my hair with my regular stylist and also scheduled some
time off work.
posted by Zephyrial at 11:04 PM on July 18, 2021 [1 favorite]

The day I got vaccinated was the first time I'd driven my car in almost two years and every inch of it was covered in pollen and bird shit. After the stab I went to a car wash and when the guy in the booth asked me if I wanted the "premium" wash, I said "Ya think? I'm probably going to go through twice."
posted by bendy at 7:27 PM on July 20, 2021 [2 favorites]

Also I immediately lost my vaccine card, plus added the "vaccinated" frame to my FB profile picture.
posted by bendy at 7:33 PM on July 20, 2021 [1 favorite]