Melbourne is in lockdown again. This is already the fourth time. Anyway, this is our first lockdown since we moved house, and we are glad to have a bigger space now so it is not too bad for us.
Although the COVID cases in Melbourne remain at very low levels at around 5 cases per day, we still think it is a good idea to get vaccinated. So, Ben took the Pfizer vaccine, while I took the Astra Zeneca vaccine (both are the 1st doses) as they are our only option.
Astra Zeneca is not the preferred vaccine for people under the age of 50 according to the Australian prime minister – due to the risk of blood clot. Therefore, I had been feeling nervous for a few days before the vaccination although I knew the risk is extremely low (0.0006%).
When we reached the hospital on the vaccination day, Ben and I had to go into separate rooms since we were taking different vaccines. Ben’s Pfizer vaccination room had a long queue while the room for Astra Zeneca was very empty… it made me doubtful if I should take the vaccine or not 😅
I was injected with the vaccine at around 9.30am in the morning. Once done, I immediately felt my arm was very sore. Then I had to stay for 15 minutes in the room to make sure everything was good.
The side effects of the Astra Zeneca vaccine for me only started to kick in from 4pm on the same day, and it was horrible… The effect was very strong as I had chill, nausea, fever, headache.
And the worst thing is that our Panadol was just expired by days! I was really suffering as I could not take any pain relief. Ben was very worried as he had never seen me like this before. It is really important to make sure there is Panadol at home.
On the second day, I felt much better but my body was still weak and I still had very mild headache and nausea. I took a day of sick leave to get some good rest at home. The side effects finally went off the next day so they lasted about 48 hours for me.
For Ben, he felt alright after taking the vaccine but we heard the Pfizer vaccine usually has a stronger effect on the second dose while Astra Zeneca is the opposite.
As we booked the vaccination just before the acting premier announced lockdown for Melbourne, so it was still possible for us to make the appointment. It is very ironic because not many people wanted to take the vaccine before, and suddenly everyone is rushing to book it when there is a COVID outbreak.
Now we are waiting for the second dose.
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