First dose done

Miraculously, not long after my last post I was sent a text inviting me to book my Covid vaccination appointment. It didn’t take long for the short wait to be over and last Friday I drove to Wing and it was there that I received my jab. It felt like a little scratch, not painful and I was given a card and that was it. It was all over in 15 minutes and since, over the next day or so, I felt a little more tired than usual but now I feel like normal again. I do have a tender arm but only like a bruise, not a constant aching.

I received the Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine, the one that was being questioned in Europe for a day but worries seem to have been allayed, just scaremongers. I know that there are people who are anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine, although I don’t know if they are two opinions that have a significant overlap or not. I can’t understand them.

My next dose is due sometime in June, it’s been booked. On the day I had my first dose, it was apparently a record day for vaccinations - Boris Johnson even had his injection on the same day. Not in the same location as I had mine though!

Vaccinating the population

 Everyday life is still under the shadow of the Covid-19 virus, we're living under lockdown measures that restrict movement and how many people we can mix with from different households. I'm still the only member of the family doing food shopping regularly. There is light at the end of the tunnel though. Vaccine development has been extraordinary and there are now several vaccines that are being administered to the most vulnerable groups in society. I read just this week that people aged between 56 and 60 without underlying problems would be able to book an appointment for the first dose of vaccine from Monday this week. I'm not in that category yet but it is heartening to know that my age group would be the next after this one, so it does seem at the moment as though the phenomenal efforts of the NHS mean that they are getting through the population. It is some sign of hope that larger percentages of the population will be vaccinated by the date intimated in the government's lockdown exit strategy. That is, as long as people abide by the restrictions and don't all forego the measures that will continue to be necessary even after having the vaccine.