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Robin Schoenthaler, MD
6 min readJan 18, 2021

Dr. Robin’s Covid-19 Updates

Vaccine Stories

After A Year of Fear, Relief is Just a Shot Away

Used with permission of the photographer Dr. Anitha Leonard

Almost every time I talk to somebody I hear about another friend/family member/neighbor who has Covid. It can feel so scary — like the noose is tightening.

But — the miracle of the vaccines is upon us.

So now almost every time I talk to one of my health care worker friends, I hear about another person who has gotten the vaccine. It’s just fantastic, an instant sigh of relief.

Tearing Up In The Vaccine Room

One of my buddies who got her vaccine last week said when she got her injection she felt such a giant waft of reassurance and relief and hope and faith it was like a religious experience.

I hear this a lot. Many of my friends talk about getting tears in their eyes, or lumps in their throats, or goosebumps, the moment the shot goes in.

These teary docs are our hard-working surgeons, steely-eyed docs, buck-stops-here super-specialists, all running through their days, carefully allotting an extra half an hour for their vaccine between patients, and then all of a sudden they are overcome with relief and gratitude for this miracle.

Robin Schoenthaler, MD
Robin Schoenthaler, MD

Written by Robin Schoenthaler, MD

Covid-Translator. Cancer doc: ~Three decades at MGH. Writer and storyteller: Moth Grand Slam Champion. Mom. www.DrRobin.org, @robinshome, robinshome2@gmail.com

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