It took a three-hour road trip, an overnight hotel stay and an untold number of sleepless nights, but she did it: On Jan. 5, Terri Lynn received her first dose of the Moderna vaccine in northern Florida.

I was just floating after I got it, the 65-year-old Naples resident told HuffPost.

I feel empowered that I did something, she continued. I didnt realize it until afterwards, but Im just so proud.

Like many of her friends and family, Lynn was eager for the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, and to be eligible for the shot in her arm. After about nine months and more than 300,000 deaths in the U.S., the first batches were finally released in January light at the end of a monthslong tunnel. All of the countrys 50 states have designed their own distribution plans, some of which have gone more smoothly than others.

For Lynn, information about the vaccine had been spotty, but after setting up multiple Google alerts and all but living online, she learned that Publix grocery stores were going to be offering the vaccine in three Florida counties all of which were more than a three-hour drive from her Naples home.

I couldnt believe my eyes, I was trembling, she said of the moment, sometime around 4 a.m., she saw she could sign up for a vaccine dose. After successfully booking her own appointment online, she rushed to book another for her husband, Mark.

I didnt realize how frantic I was going to be about it. It was like winning the lottery even better, she said.

What the COVID-19 vaccine physically feels like

So far, most people whove received the vaccine report mild to moderate side effects. Injection-site pain, headaches and fever are some of the most common symptoms, which experts say are typical for any type of routine inoculation.

In general, side effects like these are an expected immune response of the body. Candidates for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine trials experienced stronger side effects after their second dose compared to their first.

In some of the studies from Moderna, about one-third of people had a fever after the second dose, and they didnt after the first, Yvonne Maldonado , a pediatric infectious disease epidemiologist at Stanford University, previously told HuffPost . We know less about the potential long-term side effects of the vaccine there dont seem to be any, but well learn more in the months to come.

Lynn said she was happy to feel the little bit of tenderness in her arm because it meant the vaccine was in her body.

For Andrew Geller, a 37-year-old dentist in Bronxville, New York, his first vaccine dose came with more than a little tenderness. I had a pretty intense reaction about 20 hours after I received the vaccine, he told HuffPost.

Geller said he experienced flu-like symptoms, but the incident isnt derailing his will to get a second dose. He thinks its important to share stories like his, even though the majority of people who get the vaccine will show little to no side effects.

You have to be honest with patients, he said, explaining that doing so helps mitigate fear. If they are aware and then they have the symptoms, it gets rid of the panic. I had 24 hours of flu-like symptoms and then it went away and thats OK. Its a possibility and you dont panic.

Ruth Schwartz, a 99-year-old resident at Atria Senior Living home in New York City, said she feels very, very privileged, to have received the vaccine, and shared that the actual inoculation was painless.

Everything went well and I felt fine after, and still do, she said. Now that I have the vaccine I feel much better about [my situation]. I feel that Im not existing but, hopefully, will be able to live.