Vaccine call up

Hi everyone, I hope you are all well and keeping safe.

Sorry I haven’t written a post in a while, there simply hasn’t been anything interesting enough to document.

Today I want to talk about the new COVID vaccines, as I was recently called up to have mine. If you regularly read my blog and specifically the ones I have written about my condition, you would know I fall under the clinically extremely vulnerable category as I have overnight ventilation and am at high risk from the virus. This meant all people with my condition including myself, was on the priority list sitting at number 4, we were initially placed lower on the list but after lots of campaign this was correctly changed. The first Pfizer Covid-19 vaccination was given on December 8th, 2020, and I had my dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine on the 9th of February 2021, this just puts into perspective how fast the process is going.

I was lucky enough to be able to have my vaccine at my local GP, as I know a few of my friends have had to travel into London to a main hospital to have theirs. My mum received the call it was my time to have the jab on the morning of 9th of February 2021 and I was booked in for 6.20pm the same day. Initially I was feeling both anxious and excited, anxious because it was a new thing, some of my friends had some side effects after theirs, and some would say I’m a bit of a worrier when it comes to the unknown 😊. But on the other hand, I was also excited as I knew this was a step in the right direction to get some normality back to the country. We have now been shielding for almost a year so can’t wait for normality.

When it was time to go get the vaccine, we arrived there on time and there were no complications, it was all safely set out ensuring everyone was sticking to social distancing, wearing masks, and not in there for any longer then necessary. We only had to wait around 5 minutes to be seen, and we were sent to a separate part of the GP away from other people. Because I was feeling anxious the nurse did it promptly, my mum also had hers done ensuring we both are safe. That evening I was absolutely fine and had no immediate reactions, it wasn’t until I woke up the next day, I started feeling slightly unwell, I only had the basic side effects of achiness, headache, tired and feeling hot and cold but I didn’t have a temperature; thankfully, this only lasted one day, and I didn’t need any additional support from my ventilator. As I previously mentioned some of my friends too had these symptoms, so it was completely normal, and is actually a good sign as it shows your immune system is fighting what was put into you. The next day I was back to normal except soreness of the injection area, this lasted just under a week, this is normal for me as my muscles are small and delicate. My mum luckily had zero side effects from her vaccine. When receiving the jab, we were told that within 2 weeks we will be 75% protected, before receiving our second does in a few months. Although the vaccine helps to protect us, we still need to keep safe, wear masks where necessary as we can still pass it on to others, and today, we were told we have to continue shielding till at least March 31st, meaning we have to stay home.

I hope this made you feel even a little more reassured about the vaccine, I know myself it can be a nerve wrecking experience, but if you are called up please just remember having this drug and a few days of flu symptoms, will help us all in the long term get back to some kind of normality. The vaccine will ultimately help prevent us getting the virus bad, but we still need to think logically for a while, so if/when you have it please don’t think you are fully safe overnight, this is a large step in the right direction, but we still haven’t crossed the finish line. As I am writing this over 15million people have received their first dose, this is a great sign!

Thank you for reading I will write another update when I have my second dose, if you have any questions please let me know I will be happy to help where possible.

Stay safe

Ellie X