'I feel great': Fort Bragg nurse combats skepticism surrounding COVID-19 vaccine

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- Womack Army Medical Center Emergency Room nurse Roni Paul understands many American's mistrust in the COVID-19 vaccine, that's why he is hoping to ease concerns by sharing his experience.

"No problems. I feel great. I feel very normal," said Paul.

Nearly a month ago, ABC11 last spoke to Roni Paul after he receiving the first round of the Pfizer vaccine. After experiencing mild side effects 24-hours after receiving the first dose, the 47-year-old veteran and nurse educator was hesitant to take the second dose, but ultimately he took the vaccine.

"Really mild muscle aches, low grade fever and fatigue. You know after a long days work you're tired and ready to go to bed? That's how I felt," he said.

"There was a person who had a bad outcome because of the immunization. It's all over social media. Right? But, how many bad outcomes do we have with medications we give every day? It's a possibility it can happen," Paul said on Wednesday during a Zoom call.

Paul is Indian-American. He sees very few adverse effects of the vaccine among health care workers but understanding why concerns exist in communities of color.

The Kaiser Family Foundation released data stating rural residents are among the most vaccine-hesitant groups along with Republicans, people within the age of 30 to 49 and African Americans.

Paul plans to keep an eye on that data to help ease concerns among family and friends.

"We talked and I asked him, 'hey do you remember having any fears of polio?' He said no. I said, 'why?' He said folks before us received the vaccination. I said exactly. That's exactly the type of thought process we need to use," said Paul.