As a staunch pro-vaccine person, I registered my interest in taking the Covid-19 vaccine as soon as early February this year when they opened the registration in the MySejahtera app. 3 months on, the national vaccine rollout progressed at a snail’s pace with phase 2 of the programme, targeting people with comorbidity and senior citizens. Meanwhile not all frontliners in the first phase got their jabs yet with a sizable number of them being left out from the shortlist.
When they announced that a significant number of registered people pulling out of their vaccination schedule for their concern on the Astrazeneca (AZ) vaccine side effect, the minister in charge offered the vaccine to the public, outside of the scheduled national immunization plan. So on May 2nd, there were 268,000 slots offered through the national vaccination website for residents of KL and Selangor, the states with the highest number of Covid-19 cases. I stood by in front of my computer 10 minutes to time and by 11:58 AM, the booking link went online and I got my slot confirmed within seconds.
Despite several minor glitches in the first 10 minutes of the online registration drive, all 268,000 slots were fully booked within 4 hours. 68,000 more were put on the waiting list for the AZ vaccine. I purposely picked on the earliest available date. First because I had already applied for an annual leave on that May 5th. Secondly, every single day without a vaccine is another day I could potentially catch the virus. My company was sporting enough to give out vaccination leave for all staff that wishes to take the vaccine.
Since UKM’s Dewan Gemilang is a mere 10 minutes away from my home, it was naturally my vaccination centre of choice. I arrived 30 minutes early before my stated appointment time. There was a considerable crowd gathering at the hall by the time I arrived. I quickly fill up my consent form and wait in line for my turn. When I finally got into the hall, I had to wait in line before a couple of stations (6 in total). Despite the crowd, the queue moved pretty quickly until the actual vaccination station. Maybe it’s because it was the first batch of the day or of the place, the wait at that particular station was a bit longer than usual.
The actual shot itself was done in less than a minute. I waited another half an hour at the observation station before finally leaving the hall. Overall, it took me 1 hour and 30 minutes from the first queue outside the hall until I left the selfie booth. I got myself a vaccination card with proof of my first dose on it. A few hours later it was also shown in the MySejahtera app. The first minor side effect was feeling sore on my arm where they jab the shot. About an hour later, I felt lethargic and sleepy. I managed to get 3 hours of sleep that afternoon and woke up feeling still tired and sleepy the next day. I also started to experience mild fever for the next 2 days which quickly got better after I popped a couple of paracetamols.
There were several points of contention regarding the AZ vaccine and the national Covid-19 immunisation in general. Some people argued that there should not be a special stream for residents of Selangor to jump the queue of the national vaccination waiting list. It was as if we cut in line of other more deserving people. Well first of all, we didn’t ask for this special vaccination exercise. As I said earlier it was done in response to a withdrawal of a significant number of people after they were assigned with the AZ jab. While I understand their concern, it would be a shame if the entire vaccination program is jeopardized just because they were made to believe wild stories from irresponsible people. The fact remains that the benefit of the AZ vaccine far outweigh the minor potential risk of blood clot. That’s 4 in one million shot small. Heck there’s more risk of blood clot in birth control pills, cigarettes and not to mention the actual virus itself. As a man of science, I have full faith in the vaccine rather than worry about a few rare minor side effects.
Could the national vaccination programme run a little bit faster? Absolutely. The government’s excuse was limited vaccine supplies, blaming rich countries of hoarding most of them. While that is partially true, I honestly believe we could do better in procuring these vaccines from multiple channels. With Covid cases increasing at an alarming rate nationwide (over 6,000 new cases at the time of writing), it’s every man for himself right now. While I feel sorry for those who are still waiting for their turn, you can’t blame me for jumping at the opportunity that presents itself. On the bright side, this AZ vaccination drive helped to boost public interest and confidence after becoming a major talking point on social media. I believe that getting as many people as possible and getting excited about it is miles better than trying to convert an antivaxer or Covid-denier.
That said, I can’t wait for my second dose sometimes in June. At least I can feel somewhat protected whenever I venture outside whether for work or doing whatever. Yes this vaccine cannot 100% stop me from getting Covid-19 but it could prevent me from becoming seriously ill or spread the virus to other people. And I don’t care whether I got the “lowly” AZ vaccine from say the more in demand Pfizer or Sinovac because the best vaccine you can get is the one that’s immediately available to you. The sooner we can get herd immunity, the quicker we can end this pandemic and get our lives back to normal.