Essential caregiver shares experience with COVID-19 vaccine

Heidi Doo-Kirk is among the first residents of Cook County who is not a healthcare worker to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Doo-Kirk qualified to receive the Pfizer vaccine because her grandmother is a resident at the North Shore Health Care Center. Doo-Kirk is considered an essential caregiver for her grandmother and was therefore eligible to receive the vaccine.

Doo-Kirk has been a Cook County commissioner for the past eight years. Her term ends at the end of 2020. She did not file for reelection this year. Her position as a county commissioner had nothing to do with being eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, Doo-Kirk told WTIP Dec. 30.

In related news, most of the reports among healthcare workers in Cook County who have received the vaccine to date are experiencing mild side effects, including a sore arm and slight headache. Doo-Kirk said her symptoms were worse than a sore arm, including feeling fatigue and other flu-like symptoms.

“It was 24 hours of not the best feeling in the world,” Doo-Kirk said, “but not horrible.”

The audio below is Doo-Kirk’s conversation with WTIP’s Joe Friedrichs about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Joe Friedrichs December 31, 2020