Many people have asked me to write something in regard to the Covid Vaccine and Parkinson’s disease. I personally believe that everyone should be vaccinated, but there are a few things that are important for you to know about the Covid vaccine and your after-care.
The email below came from the spouse of one of my fighters. I can only imagine how scary this must have been for them! He is very high functioning and ordinarily does not have gait issues.
“Hi Kimberly! My husband had an experience on Monday I think is important to share with the other people with Parkinson’s. Last Saturday he got his second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. We were told to expect a bigger reaction after this second injection. On Monday afternoon his PD symptoms began to escalate, starting with shuffling of his feet, to freezing, to later not being able to even stand up. He needed assistance with all function.
We became alarmed and contacted his neurologist. He said, “This was his body reacting to the vaccine. When someone has PD, their body is in constant battle to fight the symptoms and any outside infection, vaccine, virus can interrupt the body’s ability to control PD symptoms. Lucky for us by the next morning everything was back to normal. People with PD need to be alerted to this possibility when they get their vaccine. Everyone is different and others may not have this experience. All should be forewarned just so they are prepared.”
I have received other emails from concerned people with PD from all over. I’m passing this along also because I believe in order to see fewer deaths from Covid and get our in-person classes opened up and running again, we have to proceed with caution.
“Kimberly, would you write a blog about vaccines? A lot of people think by getting the Covid vaccine that the pandemic is over. They think they no longer need to social distance or wear masks. This scares me.
The cases are rising in other countries where they have received the vaccine and people just went back to their normal activities and now, they are right back with the cases rising rapidly.”
I get it… we are all excited to get back to the gym, social gatherings, handshakes, and hugs again. However, we still need to be safe until we see cases dropping consistently. Until then, get vaccinated and continue to be safe.
There are still so many unknowns and we should not be gambling with our own health, our friends, and our loved ones, not to mention prolonging our business opening. No one wants to wait longer than we need to. We have a beacon of hope here… let’s be safe together!
We love you all and want you back in person soon,
– 💜 Coach Kimberly