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The Absolutely True, Incredibly Amazing Story of the Covid-19 Vaccine

As a reporter specializing in vaccines, I knew it was possible — but never thought it would happen quite like this

Tara Haelle
Elemental
8 min readMar 16, 2021

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Photo: Daniel Schludi/Unsplash

Tomorrow, it will have been exactly one year since the first Moderna trial began for the groundbreaking mRNA Covid-19 vaccine. Having covered vaccines as a journalist for a decade, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that less than a year later, I would have two doses of that vaccine in my arm, that it would reduce my risk of catching the coronavirus by 95%, that it would eliminate my risk of death from the disease despite multiple risk factors, and that the worst I’d suffer for it would be a sore arm for a week or so. As a journalist, I’m not supposed to gush over the topics I cover, and I’ve faithfully reported on facts about Covid-19 vaccines without doing so. I’ve been cautious and balanced about what people need to know about their safety and effectiveness and what they do and don’t mean about what we can do while the pandemic rages on.

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Elemental
Elemental

Published in Elemental

Elemental is a former publication from Medium for science-backed health and wellness coverage. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

Tara Haelle
Tara Haelle

Written by Tara Haelle

Tara Haelle is a science journalist, public speaker, and author of Vaccination Investigation and The Informed Parent. Follow her at @tarahaelle.

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