Joliet-area residents speak out about the COVID shot

Darla Vidican of Joliet received the COVID vaccine – Moderna – as soon as she qualified and will do it again in November, when she’s due for a booster, she said.

Vidican called the vaccines “a blessing” and that she “has faith in science” and “trusts it.” The fact her brother and sister also had COVID contributed to her decision that getting vaccinated “was the right things to do.”

“I was really scared of it as we are older,” Vidican said in a Facebook message. “There was no question when the vaccine came out that we would get it.”

Why Moderna?

“Because that was what was given at Joliet West when we got called,” Vidican said in a Facebook message.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave the Pfizer vaccine its strongest endorsement on Monday. And while some hope FDA full approval means more people will get the shots, RJ Barry-Ethridge, property manager at Senior Suites of Joliet, said this won’t convince people who are already mistrustful of government agencies.

“A lot of people think this is a government conspiracy theory. That’s why they’re not getting the vaccine,” Barry-Ethridge said. “This is not going to make them trust it more.”

Husband died of COVID

Bernice Vargas, 64, of Crest Hill, said she received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on March 3 because she wanted to the “one and done” shot. But she wanted the shot “due to my husband dying of COVID,” she said.

Lou Vargas was hospitalized for another condition, eventually tested positive for COVID and wound up on a ventilator for 21 days, Bernice said. She never saw Lou – her best friend for 45 years, she said – again until the last 90 minutes of his life, she said.

“He was suffering,” Bernice said. “His blood pressure was dropping, and his organs were failing. It was heartbreaking to see him that way. The doctor said there was no chance of life. So I told him to take him off the ventilator. He died 20 minutes later.”

Bernice understands the importance of vaccines. She’s even had a measles booster. And she has a message for people who won’t want the COVID shot.

“If you could actually sit and watch one of your lived ones die of this, they would change their minds,” Bernice said.

Immunocompromised

Linda Rohr, 71, of Shorewood, who is immunocompromised, received her third COVID shot – Moderna - several days ago. She’s currently fighting her second bout of bladder cancer and also has “four rods in my spine,” Rohr said.

“I’m going to do what I have to do to stay alive,” Rohr said. “And a COVID booster was on the list.”

Although Rohr was happy to her the FDA gave full approval to the Pfizer shot, she feels it won’t change the minds of people who adamantly don’t want it – which she said is “sad” and “selfish” – especially when these same people test positive for the virus.

“They just think about themselves, not who they’re going to infect,” Rohr said. “And now you’re sick and you’ve infected others around you. To me, that’s selfish.”

Rohr also said it’s insulting to people whose loved ones died from COVID. She wonders why people won’t vaccinate to “save a life,” she said.

“That should be a bumper sticker,” Rohr said. “Save a life, get the shot.”

Desire to keep loved ones safe

Dee Bode of Joliet, who received her Pfizer vaccine in March and April. is glad the FDA approved the Pfizer vaccine, but she knew it would, once it went through the proper testing channels. Bode said she was vaccinated for herself but also to keep her family and friends safe.

Bode also wanted to visit her new granddaughter in Washington and felt she ought to be vaccinated first.

“I would tell everyone to get it,” Bode said. “And if they tell us to get a booster, I’ll go get it, absolutely.”

Bode said she gets the flu shot every year, too. She had a bad bout with the flu years ago, which convinced her. And if an annual COVID shot will be part of the routine, so be it.

“Hopefully, more will get the shots,” Bode said.

Anything to save a life

Kathleen Ellinger, 70, of Joliet, received the Pfizer vaccine on Feb. 15 and March 8 because of her age, her health history (a heart attack four years and a transient ischemic attack two years ago that affected her mouth and ability to write creatively) and her volunteer role as a hospital chaplain.

Ellinger also still wears a face mask, maintains social distance and refrains from criticizing people who have opted against the shot – although she is more comfortable socializing with people who are vaccinated, Ellinger said.

She hopes the full FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine will give more people the confidence to get vaccinated. Like others, Ellinger wants the pandemic to end soon.

“I feel it’s just prudent to take the vaccine [or] anything that may save lives,” Ellinger said. “I feel it’s just good if you can save a life.”

‘My Army shot record opens like an accordion’

Army veteran Michael Johnson of Joliet said received the Pfizer vaccine (Feb. 18 and March 21) at Hines Veteran’s Hospital and “didn’t think twice about it.”

“Back in 1975 when I was in the Army and about to be shipped overseas, I was given inoculations for every disease known to man that there were vaccines for at that time,” Johnson said on Facebook. “My Army shot record opens like an accordion. Vaccines work.”

Johnson also recalled the Swine flu “scare” in 1976.

“We all lined up and were given a shot in the thigh,” Johnson said in a Facebook message. " “We all had flu like symptoms that night.

Johnson said he was checked for hepatitis C a few years ago due to the way those vaccines were administered.

“We were lined up and walked through a ‘gauntlet,’” Johnson said in a Facebook message. “The vacs were given with ‘guns’ by medics in our shoulders as we walked through. So, apparently there was a mixing of the blood from man to man as we walked through. No changing of needles. I was negative for Hep C by the way). I think about all of this when somebody complains about having to get a COVID shot.”