Operation, but I was stillNews was booked in and sorted‘
somebody waiting for me and asked for me by name exactly when I was due for my appointment.
I sat down outside the vaccination rooms for no more than two minutes, before being called into the room directly ahead of me.
From there, the staff sat me down, I took off my jacket and rolled my sleeve up, and the nurse informed me I was getting the Oxford AstraZeneca jab.
Being a journalist, I was aware of the claims and concerns over blood clots that were being mentioned at the time, but I had done my research in preparation for the jab and found there was not any substantial evidence which would have put me off from receiving that one.
Having asthma, I have received so many flu jabs that I’m used to injections now.
I still look away, because I dislike needles, but all I actually felt was a little bit of pressure from the needle going in.
I admitted to the doctor and nurse that it was less painful than a flu jab, with them both telling me many people say the same thing.
I then sat down with the doctor for a few minutes as he ran through the leaflet you get with the vaccine, before being told when my next appointment is, giving me a vaccination card, and sending me on my way.
I did not even have time to ask for a quick vaccine picture for this article. I felt I would have been disrupting the efficient set-up they had.
If you do drive to the vaccination hub, be prepared to wait for 15 minutes after your jab, just to make sure any immediate reactions from the jab don’t happen to you while driving.
It’s rare that anything will happen, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
THE WEEK THAT FOLLOWED
In the seven days following my vaccine, it’s safe to say I got my fair share of side-effects.
For the first 12 hours or so I was completely fine, but as I was getting ready for bed it all seemed to hit me at once.
If you don’t have a chronic illness and a decent immune system, I don’t think it’s meant to be too bad. I think my asthma played a big part for the side-effects I felt, and it was definitely unpleasant for about 36 hours after the vaccine.
The main side-effect was the fatigue and aching, which carried on for several days in some form.
Even about four to five days later, I still felt a bit under the weather, with my immune system processing the vaccine.
My arm ached for several days after the jab, too – similar to some jabs I have received in the past before travelling.
However, I also suffered from one awful short-term side-effect – shivering. You’re informed that you might feel hot or cold following the jab, and seeing as I don’t often get cold, I expected to be overheating.
It kind of came out of nowhere. I was lying in bed and suddenly felt freezing and was shaking all over.
I’ve never felt anything like before.
If that happens to you, all I can advise is that you get warm as best you can. I wrapped up in a dressing gown, made a cup of tea and warmed a microwaveable wheat bag as I tried to get myself to warm back up again.
After about 20 to 30 minutes, the it shivering stopped, and the only side-effects I had beyond that were fatigue and a sore arm.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Did the side-effects make me regret getting the vaccine? Absolutely not.
I’ve spoken with a number of my friends who have had Covid-19 and each one replied “take what you experienced and times it by 100, then you might be close”, and I can honestly believe it.
In this line of work you speak to a lot of people, and I covered a lot of coronavirus patient stories when I worked at a different newspaper last year.
The stories I’ve heard, and the lives that have been torn apart by Covid-19, completely justify getting vaccinated.
It’s not confirmed as to whether it will stop you spreading the virus, but it definitely mitigates the impact of it on your immune system.
Healthy adults have died because of the impact the virus had on their immune system, and many have been left with long Covid, which can take months of rehabilitation and rest to get over.
Getting the vaccine was always a certainty, for me.
The sooner we are vaccinated, the sooner we are safe from Covid-19.
It might be unpleasant for some, but a few days of side-effects is better than getting the virus itself.
The stories I’ve heard, and the lives that have been torn apart by Covid-19, completely justify getting vaccinated