It's Worth A Shot - Sisters, Cousin Felt 'Liberated' After Getting COVID-19 Vaccine

Montana Crow, her sister Ruby Crow and cousin Rachel Tucker have all felt the impact of COVID-19 in their personal lives over the past 15 months, so when they became eligible to get vaccinated for the coronavirus earlier this spring, there was no hesitation or reluctance on their part.

“Being on a campus where COVID spread heavily, when I saw an opportunity to get the vaccine, I jumped on that because then I was able to be protected with the vaccine and protect other students also,” Ruby Crow, a junior at Iowa State University said. “I thought it was important to lower the risk for myself and lower the risk for everyone else.”

Ruby, a 2018 Glenwood Community High School graduate, has had her college experience affected by COVID-19 in many ways. She was studying abroad in Europe when the virus began racing across the globe in 2020.

“I was in Italy, which is where it hit pretty bad, quickly,” she said. “I had to leave and come back (to Iowa). I was probably one of the first people to quarantine. It was pretty crazy.”

Ruby was fine after returning from Italy, but she knows first-hand what it’s like to get the virus. Last August, a week after the start of the fall semester in Ames, she contracted COVID-19 during an outbreak on the ISU campus. She spent two weeks in quarantine again – this time fighting off the disease.

“I had mild headaches and then I had some sort of tension or pressure behind my eyes if I rolled them back,” she said. “It was odd. I felt allergy-like symptoms – stuffy nose, that sort of thing and I was very exhausted – very tired.”
Several of Ruby’s sorority sisters and friends at ISU also contracted the virus, including one person who “got it pretty bad” and required hospitalization.

Ruby said many of her friends and fellow ISU students have received or scheduled appointments for their COVID-19 vaccinations over the past several weeks. The university has been offering vaccination clinics for students and staff. Ruby received the Pfizer vaccine and has been fully vaccinated since April 17.

“I just felt liberated after the whole thing,” she said. “I took a picture of my vaccine card and sent it to my family and said, ‘I’m fully vaccinated!’ They were so excited because a lot of them had just gotten their second one, too.”
After getting vaccinated, Ruby said she felt more comfortable being around others and was able to take part in an event to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

“I was super excited,” she said. “I’m part of this organization called Dance Marathon and I’m a recruitment and moral captain. I went to the big dance marathon after I got my vaccine and I felt great that I had finally gotten it. I wasn’t going to have to wait to get an appointment anymore and I could feel safe around the kids at the event because they are already compromised with different diseases.

“To feel safe around them and knowing they would feel safe around me because I had gotten my vaccine made it all worthwhile.”
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Like her younger sister, Montana Crow was a student when the pandemic hit in 2020. She was in her last semester of law school at Creighton University in Omaha.

In early April of 2020, shortly after the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Omaha, Creighton closed its campus to students, staff and visitors. Montana was able to complete her work and graduate in May as planned but the virus continued to rage. She didn’t have an opportunity to partake in a traditional graduation ceremony or celebration that typically comes with such a monumental accomplishment.

Montana, a 2013 GCHS graduate, passed the bar exam in July and is now working as an attorney with the Berry Law Firm in Omaha, specializing in veterans affairs – representing veterans with disability claims to the VA (Veterans Administration).

She spent several months working from home and since the onset of the pandemic, Montana said she and the people she’s closest to have followed the recommendations of medical professionals and infectious disease experts.
“The friends I surround myself with, everybody took precautions and took everything very seriously prior to the vaccine being released,” Montana said. “We wore masks, we social distanced, we followed the CDC (Centers For Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines.”

Montana wasted no time getting the COVID-19 vaccine once she became eligible.
“All my friends, everybody that I’m close to – my family – everybody was so eager to get vaccinated,” Montana said. “We’ve all been fully vaccinated and we’re just appreciative of having that opportunity and having the vaccination be available.”

Montana said she did her own research prior to getting her two doses of the Pfizer vaccine. She trusts the scientists and researchers who developed the vaccines and had no apprehension about getting vaccinated.

“I felt very safe getting the vaccinations, both doses,” she said. “It’s not just about protecting yourself, but also about protecting my friends, my family and those most vulnerable. I also think that it’s the best shot – no pun intended – at ending the pandemic.”
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Rachel Tucker was in the middle of planning her wedding when the coronavirus outbreak began in 2020. She and her fiancé, Jake Rodenburg, were planning to get married in August 2020.

“We were supposed to have our wedding last summer, but we postponed it due to the pandemic,” Rachel said. “One thing we’re looking forward to celebrating this year is our wedding – we’re getting married in October. I guess my reason to get vaccinated stems a lot from that – our guests having the opportunity to get vaccinated so that we can celebrate safely.”

Like her cousins, Rachel said she has followed the CDC guidelines and got tested for the virus numerous times - often when learning somebody she had been around tested positive. Before getting vaccinated, her worst fear was contracting the virus and exposing someone else, possibly a vulnerable family member. Getting vaccinated, she said, was a “no brainer.”

“This last year, I was so scared that if I would have gotten it, I could have given it to someone,” she said. “It was important for me (to get vaccinated) just to protect myself and my loved ones. We love visiting our grandparents and we were never too comfortable this last year being in a room inside with them unmasked.

“The holidays were weird last year. We usually have big family in-person celebrations with extended family. This year, we’re looking forward to being together again.”

Rachel, a 2013 GCHS and 2017 ISU graduate, lives in Glenwood and works as an accountant for a real estate investor. She said most of her friends and family have been vaccinated and she’s hopeful others will do the same. Getting vaccinated, Rachel believes, is a small price to pay to bring our lives back to normal.

“I’d say follow the data. It kind of spoke for itself to me,” she said. “It’s safe and effective and a big tool that will lead us out of the pandemic and back to our normal lives and the stuff that we missed last year.”