Having the first Covid jab

I’m not an anti-vaxxer and don’t go for conspiracy theories.  Some will choose to read no further.  This is my account of having the first Covid jab (AstraZeneca).

I only registered for the jab about three days before I had it.  Once I’d registered, I looked at the available appointments a short train ride from my workplace, and on the say-so of my manager, took worktime to go and get it done.  Took less than an hour all up.

The administrative process was slick and thorough and the nurse that gave me my shot was a laugh a minute.  She called me a sook.  “I know you big guys dressed in blue.  Look tough but you’re all big sooks!”  We both laughed.  I split my sides at her audacity.  She certainly knew how to get me relaxed for the shot.  “You’ll go off crying as soon as it’s done,” she said, and I responded with, “Yes, but I’ll wait until I’m well out of sight of you!”  All good-natured Aussie banter.  Funniest thing is she had to go to another couple of booths to get me my shot because she had run out.

I had the inoculation, and disappointingly there were no tears, just a 15-minute wait to make sure I wasn’t going to keel over.  Got chatting with someone in Health.  She dismissed some of the mysteries, shared a laugh and a personal detail or two with me in the ten minutes I waited.

I did start to wonder if there would be effects, given a couple of people in my team had had some minor side effects in the days previous.  I was already feeling tired before I’d had the shot, so I couldn’t blame anything like that on the jab for the rest of the day.

But I did toss and turn that night as I tried to sleep.  I found I couldn’t sleep in my left side as my upper arm and shoulder were a bit tender.  I woke early and found symptoms I’d not experienced in over a year — slight flu symptoms, the slightest achy body, lethargy, what felt like a mild fever but wasn’t (my temp was normal), and some very minor dizziness and disorientation.

I decided not to make the long 40-kilometre drive to the office and to opt to work from home.  I attempted to sleep some more and to take it easy.  I felt a little fluey until about early afternoon but was able to coach my team of seven and eight-year-old master blasters (cricket) that evening and was easily able to front up for a Zoom counselling session I provide every Friday night.  And I still also managed about six hours of work from home beforehand.

That’s it.  No other effects other than that.  I took some paracetamol and ibuprofen during the first 24-hours or so, but not since.  And it’s been another busy weekend and I still feel fine.

I expect you and the next person reading this may have either similar or different experiences receiving the vaccination.  We’re all pretty much the same but different.  You will have different experiences — some no reaction whatsoever, some worse than I.

I will aim to have the second jab in 10-12 weeks.

Photo by Steven Cornfield on Unsplash