I got my first dose of the BioNTech Covid vaccine today! And since a lot of people are curious about the experience, I decided to blog about it. This was the first dose, by the way.
Intro
On March 16, an expat friend asked in our group chat if we were going to sign up for the vaccine. It turns out the government had opened up the vaccines to Hong Kong residents aged 30 and above.
When she said this, I immediately signed up for the Covid BioNTech vaccine, which was one of the two options, the other one being Sinovac. The BioNTech vaccine is one of the available Covid vaccines with the highest efficacy, which is why I chose that. The vaccines are free for all eligible residents here, by the way, including domestic helpers.
The original schedule for my first shot was supposed to be March 28, but a few days before that, they found some issue with the BioNTech Covid vaccine batch packaging and put it on hold to be on the safe side. After they got a new batch, I was automatically given new time slots even without me having to go and rebook. But if you’re not happy with the new slots, you can cancel and book different dates.
At the Vaccination Station
My time slot was at 10 am today, but I arrived shortly before that and was already ushered in even though it wasn’t 10 am yet. I had to show my text message with the vaccine schedule confirmation along with my HKID, then they asked me to sit in a room with other people getting vaccinated.
I noticed that most of the people in the room were Filipinos and foreigners, and I suddenly remembered that a few days ago when I went to see a doctor for a migraine and we got to talking about the vaccine, she had mentioned that a lot of Hongkongers are afraid to take it. Before that I had already heard unconfirmed rumors that it’s the reason why the age eligibility had been lowered, because not a lot of people had been signing up.
Those are only rumors, but if it’s true, then I think that’s too bad. A lot of friends in the Philippines are jealous that we have access to vaccines while they don’t.
Anyway, we were asked if we had any questions about the BioNTech Covid vaccine, and a Filipina asked until when it would be effective. The nurse didn’t seem to understand the question so I rephrased the question for her, asking, when do we need to get another vaccine because this dose had already worn off? She then understood and said that there was no answer for that yet.
An old man sitting behind me thought this meant I should be asking all the questions and asked me to ask if they were giving us snacks afterwards. I laughed and said, probably not, before all men were asked to stand up and were led to get their doses and he left.
The Vaccination
Shortly afterwards, it was our turn. I was asked by the nurse to present my HKID and then asked if I knew which vaccine I was taking. I replied that it was the BioNTech Covid vaccine, obviously, then gave her my left arm. She wiped the injection spot with a cotton ball soaked with alcohol.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes because I am scared of needles. When she stuck the needle in, I was surprised when it hardly even hurt. Some vaccines burn while flowing into your blood stream. This one didn’t.
She held a cotton ball against the area after removing the needle, then later replaced it with a round band aid.
The 15 Minute Observation
The nurse then gave me a printout which certified that I had taken my first dose of the BioNTech Covid vaccine along with a sticker where she wrote down what time I was vaccinated – 9:50.
She then said I needed to go rest in a room for 15 minutes. This is so that they could observe you and if you have any adverse reactions, they can immediately provide medical assistance.
A poster in the room said to report if I felt any of these symptoms:
At 10:06 I stood up and went home. I had asked to work from home today in case I had any side effects.
Side Effects
This is probably the portion you jumped to immediately, didn’t you? I don’t blame you, though, that’s what I was most curious about, too. So here you go:
The first noticeable side effect is the sore arm. I would highly recommend getting the shot on your non-dominant arm. Aside from the sore spot around the injection site, it also hurt to move my wrist, for some reason.
I was so thirsty all the time. This was a weird unexpected side effect. Some friends said that they also felt hungry. We have weird immune systems, no?
I took a nap over lunch break and when I woke up, I had this notification from my Apple watch about how my heart rate rose above 120 bpm while I was asleep. It went back down to the 80s and 90s during the rest of the day but that was weird. My friend said her husband and father also experienced elevated heartbeats after taking the Sinovac vaccine, so maybe this is just a side effect for some people.
And finally, you know that overall sick feeling you get when you have a fever? Light-headedness, a bit of a headache? I had that except the high temperature. But after I took a couple of Advil, I felt better.
Overall, the symptoms were tolerable and I could still work.
Why Did I Get Vaccinated?
The reason why I got vaccinated is because it’s my social duty to do so. This isn’t just to protect me, but to protect society. We need over 80% of the population to be immune before we can ever hope to achieve herd immunity and get rid of this pandemic. I don’t know about you, but I have had it with Covid.
And that is why, despite the side effects and my fear of needles (to the point that I actually fainted before), I am still very happy that I am halfway through getting fully vaccinated.
My second shot is on May 7 and I’ve read that the side effects are usually worse for that. Come back then for my update!
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