Everyone has been put into different groups for getting their Covid-19 jabs and everyone has reacted differently. I was put into 'increased risk' because of my asthma so I was one of the first in my family to get vaccinated. This is just my personal view and experience of the anxiety I went through:
My vaccines
I had two shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine both at my GP surgery. It was a perfect, well organised and very speedy experience. I didn't know what vaccine I was going to be given on my first one, I was determined it would be Pfizer though and that I definitely didn't want AZ. Only because I had heard many bad reactions to AZ and at the time the news was linking blood clots to it.
So you can imagine I wasn't best pleased to hear that on the day only AZ was being administered but was told I shouldn't really wait for another appointment to come through, might as well have this while I was here, thankfully I only had a high temperature that night and nothing else that was extremely worrying to report.
Why I was anxious - booster
Right before my reminder was received for my booster, a friend was telling me about her father who had become ill with a blood clot not so long after having his booster, not only that but two of his colleagues had become ill also, straight after their booster. One unfortunately passed away due to a heart attack. I also heard from another friend that her nan had passed away of heart failure, after her booster.
Now I know I can hear you saying 'it's not linked' but I am a cautious person who believes in coincidences, especially with a new and relatively unknown drug, I also know that several thousands of people before me have had their boosters and are fine, but being a pessimist, it would happen to me and that maybe I'd regret getting the booster.
On top of the above anxiety, I was also worried to hear all boosters were going to be Pfizer, hold up, I had two shots of AstraZeneca, why can't I be jabbed with that one again? Well I decided to ask the experts when I got my booster.
What happened
I turned up at the vaccination centre only to be told I was getting Moderna as my booster, this shocking news worried me even more, I was not prepared for that.
I asked the head nurse in charge why I couldn't have AZ as my booster, she explained that AZ is not strong enough and we needed a little mix of another vaccine to top us up.
Apart from the fact that I forgot my reference number and they weren't happy to proceed, which they got over in the end, the vaccination process was simple. A slight 15 minute wait and I was on my way home.
Photo from Unsplash
After
Less than an hour at home my arm was starting to ache, I didn't think anything of it and headed to bed sleeping on my other side only. However, the following morning was a different story, I couldn't move my arm at all and I was feeling ill, just not right and really run down, I was getting upset (I'm not much of a brave soldier). I took paracetamol for my pain and hoped it would perk me up for work. It did but only for a couple of hours, I required a top up of paracetamol again. Still not being able to lift my arm in the afternoon, I was getting quite panicky. This was worse than both my previous jabs.
By the time bedtime came around I'd had 3 lots of pain killers during the day and was still in pain with my arm, I even noticed a lump of where the administration site was. The following day the achy pain was finally easing and I was also feeling much better. Five days on and my arm is only slightly achy but still sore to touch, that I can deal with.
I hope you all feel ok after your covid jabs and that I haven't put anyone off.
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