Searching for a Covid-19 vaccine in a haystack

Last week, I got my COVID vaccine booster.

Let me confess that I wasn’t keen at all. I am not really sure why. I really believe it is the right thing to do.  In fact, with the first vaccination, I nearly started crying I was so thankful and happy to receive it. I also have no problem with needles. I have had various fairly large operations with only spinal blocks so I was puzzled as to why I was now not so brave.

It felt like those degrees of comparison we all learnt at school. First vaccination – no problem. Second vaccination – slight problem. Booster shot – major panic.  

Still, I knew it was the right thing to do. I don’t want to give COVID to anyone more vulnerable than me or end up in hospital. I did my research which suggested that without the booster, I am only 60% (or even less) covered after 6 months, but with a booster it rises to over 90%. So, a no-brainer on that front.

I’m also travelling to Europe soon, where many countries now require an updated vaccine after 9 months. More importantly, I don’t want to get COVID there and have to isolate in Euro or Pounds for 5-10 days.

So, I started to check up on vaccination centers close to me. Friends and family had been complaining about the difficulty in getting the vaccine. A family member who is in the medical profession drove to site after site over a period of 3 days without any success and then gave up. A friend went all around Sea Point and after 4 attempts finally got it at a private pharmacy. I had thought that it was just their usual “the-government-can’t-get-anything-right” moans. Yet, I was now really struggling to find any information.

Turns out that the only place I could get the booster shot close to me was at Clicks – and I had to make a booking online. “What happens to people who don’t have data or are not comfortable with the internet?” I wondered.  To make matters worse, I could also not make a booking for my local Clicks online.  So, (slightly annoyed, I popped down to the mall to make a booking.

 I explained my problem to the nurse, who was quite happy to vaccinate me right there and then. I felt I needed 24h to psychologically prepare myself (I know, I know!!) so I made an appointment for the next day.

Determined, I arrived the next day at the given time, only to find a long queue. Apparently, the nurse was late and had (temporarily) ran out of vaccines. Many people got up and left.  

Finally, it was my turn. The nurse jabbed my arm in a few seconds and then said a friendly: “Byeeeeee!”. “Do I need to sit somewhere?” I asked. (Being a vaccine veteran, I know “mos” the process). The nurse looked sharply at me. “Why? Do you feel like you want to sit?”. “No,” I answered, “but do I HAVE to?”. “You feel like you HAVE to?” asked the nurse. “No,” I said.

“Well, then byeeeee!” said the nurse firmly.

Slightly relieved, I fled out the door before she changed her mind. Previously, I hated the 10-minute wait. I would watch the clock ticking down while imagining some major adverse reaction starting. Of course, there was nothing. 

This time, for the first 24 hours I felt perfectly fine, apart from my sore arm. “Ha! Vaccine Veteran” I praised myself. Then, almost to the hour a day later, I didn’t feel so well anymore. My head throbbed, my stomach ached, my body was sore – I felt pretty miserable.

So, I did the only sensible thing I could think of and called my 12-year-old nephew. He was quite determined to get his first shot on his twelfth birthday and had his second shot recently.

 He kindly interrupted a game of mine craft and listened patiently as his aunt listed her long list of symptoms.

“That all sounds perfectly normal to me,” he said after a few minutes. “I had all of that after my second shot.”

Good to know.

Over the next day, I felt pretty under the weather. Yet, I had to remind myself that this was normal and a far cry from actually getting COVID.

My family has gone through round after round of COVID and it has been clear that the vaccines have made a huge difference in the severity of the disease for those who got it and protected many of our family against infection.

Globally, it seems that we are nearing the end of the COVID pandemic and that many of the restrictions may be lifted soon. However, COVID is still with us and can easily come back with a vengeance.

So, it is important that we don’t slip up with the vaccine regimes. I’m concerned that it seems increasingly difficult to get vaccinated. This is not good. 

 Less than 30% of our population is fully vaccinated. With an already significant (and growing) reluctance amongst people to vaccinate, it should be made effortless to get it done. That is no longer the case.

 After three days, I felt myself again. Now, I’m thankful that it is over and that I should be well protected for the next few months.

Then, I’ll start panicking about the next jab.