It has been a week or so since the app on my phone indicates "Vaccinated"
Whilst that has been a bit of a relief- a good portion of my meals are either at dine-in or best consumed at table- I must admit I wasn't an Early Adopter of the Vaccine.
I don't mean that I'm an anti-vaxxer.
Neither do I mean that I had been influenced by friends and loved ones.
It simply means that I didn't rush out for an appointment when it opened to folks my age.
But, yeah, it's been done.
Were there misgivings?
Yes... a little.
Besides the fact that I haven't had an injection since (I don't know when)- there had been a (physical) inflammation blowout earlier this summer, and- given the chemistry of the Vaccine- well, let's just say I was concerned about the slightest possibility of a second blowout.
But life is such that it has to go on.
So the appointment was made, and it was done.
The procedure was smooth.
You got there, showed the staff at the entrance your appointment SMS, and went to sit down in a tent/hall with a number slip in your hand.
When your number flashed on the screen, you went to this desk at the front, showed your ID, answered a couple of questions and then got redirected to a queue by the side.
Less than five minutes (or so it felt) and I went into the hall towards a booth where the shot would be done.
Again it was very efficient- showed me the Vaccine in the bottle- had me take a deep breath- and it was done.
Out I went to the Observation Hall after that where I was shown a seat at the back.
Here's where it got a little embarrassing.
This was my first shot.
And because I didn't know that I was supposed to go to the front when called, I happily plugged in my ears.
They probably called my (number and full name) three times or four (which, of course, the whole hall heard, so malu) before I heard it through the music from my earphones and stumbled out front.
Second time I knew better.
Never mind that my chair was much nearer the front.
I simply sat there and watched the screen.
The second shot was more "thrilling" than the first.
Besides the fact that it rained (I love rain), and that Gojek sent me a Beemer (with a driver that cut across three lanes smoothly on the highway), the side effects were also more dramatic.
If the first shot had been fine- other than a sore arm- well, they came with the second. I didn't get the fever or anything serious enough for the A&E, but hey, I got the chills and the body aches and they were equally bad.
Funny thing is that they didn't happen immediately= we still went out for some nasi lemak and bingsu. :)
They happened the very next day.
I don't think I've ever had chills, nua-ness, or a body ache this bad.
I mean, this ache wasn't just at the arm (like the first time). Instead it was all over- at the back, the arms, the waist, the neck, the thighs, even the ankles.
I know my ankles hurt because I walked out to get dinner that evening, and my legs ached so bad I thought I was going to just drop the plastic bag of soup and rest on the kerb by the road side.
That dreary discomfort was just for the day, however, and I was all right after that.
I've been all right thus far.
Nothing too frightening that I haven't been able to handle.
I'm still continuing with the barley water, the green tea, the orange juices and the coconut water, however.
After all, regulating the body's level of heatiness- despite it being a month or so now- seems like a necessary thing that someone with my (physical) system has to do.