Mei ManuelKonnichassu!!
It has been a while since I have blogged here. Life has been very very slow no thanks to the still lingering pandemic and the numerous pandemic lockdowns we have here in the Philippines. Especially in my side of the country.
I miss Manila, I miss eating my monthly Hanamaruken and I miss doing traveling to nearby areas.
Sigh!
Anyway, with that out of the way, things are starting to look up a bit as the Philippines is now slowly getting a steady supply of vaccines and its being rolled out in every area in the country. In my case, my home province Bulacan, has been getting its steady supply because we got included in the NCR+ bubble, which by time of this writing, had some of the worst spikes but thanks to the lockdowns it did drop.
The decision to get vaccinated, even before the rollouts, was a no-brainer. I have a history of asthma and allergies, which pretty much is something I had to deal with for most of my childhood. I remember going to Capitol Medical Center in Quezon City every Saturdays to see my pedia/alllergist Dr. Amelia Bulmer for my medication, which consists of quite a lot of injections and medicines. Originally, I feared injections and would throw a bad tantrum when I was a kid if I got asked to get vaccinated for something but after the skin prick test and patch test (which determines what you are allergic from) and my stint of injections during weekends for medication got that fear out of me.
As I grew older, I had lesser shots and before I entered college, I was breathing a sigh of relief because it became manageable than when I was a kid. The allergies are still there because I did have to go every once in a while to see her for some severe allergic rhinitis attacks and nowadays, I do experience seasonal allergies which my brother, who is a doctor, now monitors when needed.
Considering my medical history, getting hit by COVID-19 could be worst for me so the vaccine can protect me from it.
Another compelling reason was my brother, as mentioned is a doctor, and my sister, who is a nurse in the US, told us to get it. It is additional protection and you are an idiot to pass the chance to get it.
As for which vaccine to get… well, that one was a slight question.
There is a big debate all over about the vaccines currently available and which one is best. Out of all the ones available, Pfizer and Moderna have the best protection as seen in the studies while those made from China, like Sinovac/Coronavac are questionable. Astrazenica and Johnson and Johnson were in the middle, but they did experience some hiccups along the way. Sputnik V from Russia claims to have the best odds but people question it.
But with the vaccine supply shortage, the Philippines mostly has Astrazenica and Coronavac in its stockpile and should the Pfizer and Moderna shots come in, it won’t be in supply in some of the provinces until the later half of the year. The first Pfizer stock got delayed too!
So, I only had a two options: Astrazenica and Coronavac.
My parents, who were on the A2 category, were given the Sinovac vaccine after it was cleared by the FDA for senior use. Originally, only Astrazenica should be given to seniors but some changes were made a few months back for that. Both of them gotten their 2 dose shots already and had experienced the usual side effects after it.
My older brother, who is a medical frontliner, is in the A1 category and got Astrazenica. He already got the second dose a week ago.
Originally, I intended to wait for the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines rolling out sometime third-half of 2021 because hey, I wasn’t going out of the country anyway and I could wait. There were also private organizations who did ask around if one is willing to pay for the vaccines to get ahead since the private sector did get approval from the government to buy a stock for their workers and those interested.
I also thought my medical history wasn’t included in the A3 category, those with comorbidities, so I had to wait.
But, a friend of mine posted in Facebook the full list of comorbidities and saw I qualified for my medical history. So, even though I said I’ll wait, I went ahead and checked when the next slot was available no matter if it was the Coronavac vaccine.
I can always get the other one when I start traveling overseas again next year.
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For Shot 1, which was May 28, I went to the open gymnasium where the vaccinations were taking place. To my surprise, walk-ins were allowed and I brought my medical certificate with me because it was required for the A3 category. The process is really straightforward because you’d be asked to do a checklist of your current condition and if you agree to get the vaccine available.
The government had issued a directive during this time that the LGU won’t tell you in advance which vaccine you can get to prevent people from lining up once the vaccine they want is available. Most Filipinos are waiting for the western vaccines, especially Pfizer.
After the checklist and as you wait to be checked for the registration, you will be checked for your height, weight, and blood pressure. I have no idea why you have to give them your height and weight, but blood pressure I understood its for the study on the vaccine and how the body will take it.
From there, registration in the system and I presented my ID (always bring an ID with you!), my form and got asked about my Philhealth… which I don’t have so I just told them I’ll work on that during the period I have to wait for the second dose.
After that step, off to the medical team there who will check your medical certificate and ask you basic details about what you are feeling at that time. Fortunately for me, I was not feeling anything that day and I had a blood test done a day prior. I was then told to go to the briefing where I got my vaccine card and was told what to expect about the vaccine, as well as who to contact should there be side effects.
After that, easily went to the vaccination area where I pretty much got injected with the vaccine which pricked a bit and was told to note when my next vaccine date was and what not to do with my vaccine card.
Since the vaccine was brand new and studies are done at real-time to see how effective it will be, we had to go to the observation area where we will be closely monitored if something changed with our body, like high blood pressure, allergies and so on. Fortunately for me, I didn’t have an immediate side-effect after the vaccine.
I did have a very heavy left arm for a day, which was fine because it wasn’t that bad.
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Shot 2 happened last Friday, June 26, and the process was pretty much the same. However, I was recovering from an allergic rhinitis attack a day prior thanks to the changing weather which left me with a slightly runny nose the previous day. Fortunately for me, I was a bit better when I headed to the vaccination site but I did tell the medical team that asked me about my condition just in case. I was told to drink the paracetamol they will hand out during the screening.
I also gave them my PhilHealth number which I got a week prior.
The nurse who shot my vaccine this time was different and hey, he was way smooth on the jab coz it didn’t sting as much as my first one did.
During the screening, I did record a spike on my BP coz when I gotten my preliminary check, I was just 120/80 but it rose up to 130/80. But, they said it was normal so I went home immediately.
As far as the side-effect goes, I did notice that I was very groggy and fell asleep after a second shower. When I woke up for dinner, I was still sleepy and couldn’t really focus on anything. The grogginess did pursue for the next day but while writing this now, it is gone now coz my body clock is back on its usual.
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If you are still double guessing if you should get the vaccine when you are ok to get it, don’t. If we want our lives to go back to normal, we should get vaccinated to help our bodies combat COVID-19’s harsh impacts. Without it, we’ll be sitting ducks and cause problems not just for ourselves but for our health care sector which is already reeling from the spikes in cases.
Sure, we’re still not sure how effective the vaccines will go but when we get vaccinated, we are already helping scientists see how effective it will go as we let the vaccine do its thing.
Get vaccinated today and we’re one step closer to getting back to our pre-COVID life.
I shall be posting some other blogs very soon!
