Marteki’s vaccination story

This is the fourth in a series of stories from Union members about getting vaccinated against COVID-19. Thanks to Marteki for sharing her story with us.

Background

Hi, I'm Marteki Reed, NTEU 335 Membership Committee chair and a subject matter expert for compensation bargaining. The pandemic has been rough for me. This is my story of how I got my vaccine, and what happened next.

I have an autoimmune disease called multiple sclerosis. Twice a year, I go out to the hospital for a lengthy process where I'm injected and infused with a drug which stops my immune system from attacking my spinal cord and nerves throughout my body. The number one side effect of this treatment is that I am much, much more likely to contract and get sick from upper respiratory viruses… viruses like the common cold, influenza, or, oh yeah, COVID-19.

As a result, as the pandemic became really known in my neck of the woods (Chicago), I went into as severe a lockdown as I could. Only grocery delivery, spraying things down with Lysol, only taking walks in my backyard to avoid people – all the trademarks of April 2020 in America. I only talked to my two elementary school kids in person and occasionally my ex-husband as needed for child exchanges. The COVID-19 virus was very real for me as an active threat to my life. I needed to find a way to make my lifestyle better, and the vaccine seemed like a clear improvement.

My decision about the vaccine

Still, I was worried about the vaccine. How would it interact with the other treatment I needed to get on a regular basis? What would be the recommendation from my neurologist or the national society that tracks my illness? The society was on the fence, saying it depended on what treatment you were receiving and what your doctor recommended. So in 2020, I went for another infusion treatment, and asked my neurologist.

His response? "Get it as soon as you can. I'm getting it myself when I can."

My path forward got clearer: listen to the Hamilton soundtrack (which you keep on repeat) and don't throw away your shot. But how and when could I actually get the vaccine?

The search is on

With autumn came another wave of the pandemic in Chicagoland, and I started more actively monitoring when and where I could take my shot. I knew I was triply slotted into Illinois's 1C category as someone with a chronic illness who worked in IT for the federal government, but when would that category be allowed to get the vaccine? My Google News feed was full of vaccine news, and I was checking COVID Act Now and local websites regularly.

Some counties in Illinois started opening slots early, and then closed them down again before I knew to try and sign up to drive four hours south. My local town got vaccines delivered based on the number of residents, but they dosed folks that included everyone who worked in the town as well. No vaccine doses for 1C, not yet.

There was an added wrinkle: due to my infusion treatment shutting down my immune system, I needed to time my vaccine jab to the period of time between when my immune system was starting to recover but four weeks before my next infusion on May 10. (The four-week recommendation came from the National Society for Multiple Sclerosis.) I had a brief window of hope in March and April, which in January and February looked unlikely to be fulfilled. It seemed like my chance was slipping away unless I put my larger health at risk and delayed my infusion.

Then Illinois opened up a new category: 1B+, for those with chronic conditions including neurological conditions. Hope sprung anew.

Getting jabs in

I fired up the active research machine and used the skills I've been trained in: tracking websites that email or text you on openings, joining local Facebook groups or pages to learn about openings, prefilling the web browser to track multiple drug stores for openings, learning which stores drop which vaccine appointments when, staying up until 11:45 p.m. for one drug store while waking up at 5:45 a.m. for another…. Getting a vaccine shouldn't have had to be that hard, especially for someone with a chronic illness who was also working full-time and had two kids at home, one learning remotely and one being homeschooled.

My attempts had a minor setback when my county decided not to open to 1B+ with the rest of the state, due to the ratio of vaccine doses to eligible population. This was fixed when my specific town opened up to 1B+… but they still didn't have enough doses to vaccinate eligible folks, so others got priority. I kept looking and kept checking and kept searching.

I finally booked my first dose on Thursday, March 4, at 6:06 a.m. The appointment was for the following Sunday, March 7, at 10:15 a.m. The only open slot was 50 minutes away from me by highway, but the long ride would be worth it.

Helping others

I got my first jab on Sunday, March 7, at a Walgreens in Joliet, Illinois! There was internal and external cheering. Then I got a message on Thursday, March 11, from our union president, Cat Farman, asking if I would be willing to help some union members get vaccinated, or help their family members. My response: "Yes. 100%."

I fired up the old research machine again, this time doing so for multiple people, which required a different set of skills. How can you convince multiple automated systems that you are multiple different people without hacking it at all? The vaccine finders of the Union know how 😉

I found appointments for a union member's mom in suburban Philadelphia and appointments for another union member's mom in Birmingham, Alabama. I am proud that I was able to contribute to keeping the previous generation of union moms safe. #UnionMoms

Success

The last two months of my life have been like a flower slowly opening back up to the sun:

• Sunday, April 4: I got my second jab on a day which was also a religious holiday for me, so it had extra significance.
• Sunday, April 18: I have full efficacy from the vaccine.
• Friday, April 23: I see my boyfriend in person for the first time since October.
• Tuesday, April 27: I sit on my back patio with one of my close friends for the first time in over a year, without masks and sipping beverages, thanks to both of us being fully vaccinated.

What will I do next? I don't know! Maybe I will go to the grocery store masked and get groceries in person. Maybe I will ride the subway which is three blocks from my house.

I did not throw away my shot. Please don't throw away yours. Let us know if you need help finding one for you or your family members, because we are all in this together and we will help you.