I got the AstraZeneca vaccine last month and I’m glad I did, however, I think I got the booby vaccine.
It’s like checking out at the supermarket, you’re in a rush and try to gauge which line will move the fastest, but you always choose the slowest one, which I call the booby line up.
My husband, who also got AZ, thinks we will all turn into zombies one day. Jokes aside I feel a little bit like a guinea pig because the science on COVID-19 vaccines are constantly changing and it makes me anxious.
I got my vaccine at a pharmacy in Richmond when the virus was at its peak in Fraser Health, and because my daughter told me my age group was getting extremely ill from COVID.
My biggest concern around the AZ is the rare cases of blood clots, sometimes fatal. Epidemiologists told me to watch for symptoms in the first week, then it was two weeks, then it was 28 days. I admit I did not like being on the blood clot watch, it’s a horrible feeling.
As a child I lined up for measles, diptheria, polio, and chicken pox vaccines. The small pox shot created a scar on my left arm the size of a dime. That scar is a reminder of the seriousness of infectious diseases and the development of remarkable life-saving vaccines.
In those days we never questioned the safety or efficacy of vaccines, they had been developed and tested for years, and thankfully most of those killer diseases are under control globally.
Today getting a COVID-19 vaccine is really an issue of trust…trust that we are doing the best for our own health and for the greater good of everyone. I’m confident with three more months to go before my second dose science will guide me to either mix or match for shot number two.
It was heartening to read the BC Centre for Disease Control stats that show South Delta has one of the lowest rate of infections in the Lower Mainland. That’s credit to your vigilance in following health guidelines and your willingness to get vaccinated. A pat on the back for us all.
Dr. Bonnie Henry’s mantra has expanded to be kind, be calm, be safe and be vaccinated, so go get the Pfizer or Moderna jab and bring your kids so we can all have a beautiful summer, we deserve it.
Ingrid Abbot is a writer and broadcaster and recently watched a video of sheep being herded into a lush green pasture, it was utopian.
