When debating whether or not you want to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, you usually think about the side effects. How mild will they be? How severe will they be? You never know until it happens, because every body is different.

My mom, a healthcare worker, was able to get the vaccine, and her experience with it was about the same as her coworkers.

My mom got the vaccine after work at around 7 PM. About three hours after getting the vaccine, she started feeling weak -- to the point where she had to ask me to basically give her a full-body massage to relieve some of her uneasiness. She has never asked for a full-body massage, ever. The next day, her weakness got worse, and she developed muscle aches at the injection site and had chills. According to the CDC, all of these side effects are what you should expect when getting the vaccine. She could barely lift up her arm and wanted to leave work early (but she didn't.) She just felt very weak, and had a lack of energy all throughout the day. I asked how it went for her coworkers, and she said that it was the same - except the weakness lasted either just 24 hours or a couple of days. Some of them even called in sick the day after getting the vaccine.

According to Johns Hopkins, the length at which the side effects should last is about 24 to 48 hours and that the second dose will cause them to occur more frequently.

My mom is a middle-aged woman with no underlying health conditions, but here's what she had to say about the vaccine:

"I'm sure there will be people who would opt out of the second dose because of the side effects of the first dose."

There was nothing severe in her experience with the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine; however, it was the tremendous lack of energy that made her say that comment.