Vaccination Experience - Part 2

Although there were few side effects that I experienced for the 1st dose, stay tuned to learn how I was almost knocked out by the 2nd dose.

Since I was still in the office, on the eve of my 2nd dose, I made the eleventh hour decision to have salad for lunch instead of the sandwich and a slice of butter cake that I brought from home. You could say that I was so frightened by the amplified side effects from the jab that I had psychogenic fever for the entire morning (which was worrying because my cubicle isn’t the most freezing area of the office).

Or maybe it’s because I barely slept due to my allergic attack.

Who knows?

In the few hours leading up to the vaccine appointment, I dug deep in my backpack for the relevant items:-

An extra ballpoint pen
Hand sanitiser
My copy of the previously filled in Consent Form
MySejahtera app
Identity Card (or passports for the foreign nationals)
An extra piece of mask

My worries were hyped up this time around because I had heard a lot about people suffering from intense side effects for their 2nd dose, but it’s not like I could not do much about it. With a throw to the wind, I arrived at the same vaccination centre, albeit earlier than I had expected thanks to the smooth sailing traffic (yay!). Our early arrival meant that we didn’t have to line up for long after registering our attendance on the app. Since it was just a few of us, the usher signalled for us to head to the first station for appointment verification - both via MySejahtera and Identity Card (“IC”).

Okay, here’s the irony - as I had almost totally forgotten about the vaccine, I actually downed a venti-sized coffee (the heck!) earlier that morning.

Once everything had checked out, I was given the all-clear to head to the next station to wait for the nurse to call for me. She didn’t need to call my name or anything like that because the moment she opened the door, I was already walking toward her.

So, it was a different nurse who administered the 2nd dose. As he showed me the type of vaccine and its amount, he was seated on a high chair before he proceeded to extract the liquid from its vial. In the meantime, I had my eyes closed as I awaited that stab. Maybe … and I mean, maybe … he saw my reaction, which was why he tried to engage me in a conversation as he stuck the needle into my arm. (A shout out to the nurse - thank you for making the experience less painful and for the warning on the side effects!!!)

Once the process was completed, I had to scan the QR code to indicate that I had received the jab. If the nurse hadn’t notified me, I honestly wouldn’t have noticed it because it was plastered behind a door.

After that, the volunteers manning the last station gave last minute instructions and updates pertinent to the digital certificate (“certificate”) after they returned my vaccination card. I was advised that while it indicated that I had received my 2nd dose, it’d take a full fortnight for the certificate to turn yellow. With that in mind, I waddled my way to the observation centre to wait for 15 minutes for any adverse side effects. I still felt okay, but prevention’s better than cure.

Unlike the first dose, I still felt alright after 15 minutes, which made me wonder whether the side effects would be severe or not. You see, for the 1st dose, I broke out in cold sweat almost immediately after leaving the centre.

Here were the side effects - it was similar to the one I endured for the 1st dose, but it was also different to a certain degree. Although I felt so fatigued while grabbing a healthy lunch right after the jab and almost lost my balance, I didn’t crash in exhaustion until much later. The irony was that I was still awake when the clock struck 11pm.

• The injection site felt sore about 3 hours after the vaccine. When I could barely lift my arm without the movement being restrained, I popped a Panadol tablet (as per one of my acquaintances’ advice). 
• My appetite wasn’t affected much, but more of the side effects arrived at night. 
• While I didn’t suffer from headache for the 1st dose, I had low grade fever, bone ache and a slight headache at one go. I didn’t take the second Panadol at this stage and merely curled up to sleep. 
• It was in the wee hours of the morning when I woke up with an elevated temperature (my body’s sign of a fever making an appearance) that I took Panadol and returned to sleep. 
• The ramifications 24 hours after the jab were rather weird in the sense that I was so exhausted by the time mid-afternoon rolled around that I kept dozing off. It was because I had to finish my pending work that I forced myself to wake up from the nap; otherwise, I could’ve slept through dinnertime. Thankfully, there wasn’t much to settle because I didn’t have the mental energy to attend to other matters. I just felt so meh. 
• I had regained more use of my arm with the fever and slight headache disappearing by this stage. I found myself reaching out for more Panadol as well as coconut water because of the stubborn bone ache.

Although I had already taken both doses, as long as the certificate illustrated white, my freedom of movement was still restricted. It meant more time spent on having my meals at home or take outs while patiently waiting for the certificate to turn yellow (fully vaccinated means it will be in yellow).