For Rhonda Campbell, deciding whether or not to get the Covid-19 vaccination was all about listening to science…and her daughter.

Campbell is a Program Manager at BAMSI and her daughter is a virologist who was able to set her mind at ease and explain how the vaccine works.

“I had only a little bit of anxiety before my first dose. But I was more comforted in the fact that my daughter is a virologist so she works in this field,” Campbell said. “She told me any kind of reactions were most likely going to come because the vaccine is working if you get any symptoms. I was able to get more calm because knowing she works in this field and she explained the science to me about it. So that helped me get through it.”

Campbell said that she also drew on her experience as a cancer survivor and her decision about receiving chemotherapy treatments.

“I was at that point that I had something to take, a medication I had to take to survive and I was very wary of it. And I had read about the different types of chemo they were going to give me and I said ‘oh, God, people have died of this.’ But I’m going to take the chance because I’m going to fight for my life and that’s what people have to realize,” she said. “How much fight do you want to put in it to save your life? To save the people around you? And I think if they thought about it that way, I think more people would line up to take the vaccine. Especially people of color.”

According to Campbell, thinking about her family and the people she works with at BAMSI also helped her make the decision to receive the vaccine.

“This is going to help me live a longer life. It’s going to help me be around my first grandchild.’ Those are the things I thought of,” Campbell said. “My family and of course my work with individuals here. It was allowing me to do that.”

Campbell said that she told her nieces and nephews to avoid what people were saying on social media and to learn about the vaccine with some research of their own. According to Campbell, taking the vaccine has given her peace of mind.

“I’m so happy I did the second dose. I do feel more relieved,” she said. “I sleep better now that I know I’ve gotten the vaccine.”