Hey you, guys! Another proof of life post here in Hive. Kamusta kayo?
1. Life Update
Things have been pretty overwhelming for me for the past few months: the death of my dearest workmate, shifts in the academic calendar with significant changes in work deadlines (which totally costed my mental well-being), and poor eating habits to cope with all the stress that has been coming through. But hey, I'm still alive and kicking after that dark period. Currently, I'm trying to make use of the little extra time to restore my sanity and re-do my hobbies in the past, and that includes writing blogs here in Hive.
2. Why Post About Vaccination All of A Sudden?
Let us skip the bad stuff for now and talk about my COVID-19 vaccination experience here in the newly opened vaccination site in Cebu City. I find this post important since I just found out that most of the population are still skeptic about the idea of getting jabbed for the sake of having an increased level of protection against the COVID-19 virus. I was more motivated to write this because recently, I found out from my mother that my aunt got mad at me because I have decided to be vaccinated despite her consistent opposition. She is definitely an anti-vaxxer currently situated in the USA, and I am totally confused as to where she is coming from with respect to that point of view. I know that there are so many anti-vaxxers out there other than my aunt who is stil highly resistant to the idea of getting protected. As a counter-measure, I will just be diplomatic enough to share my experience and make this post make them curious and entice them to think otherwise. Lol Hahaha.
3. How Vaccines Work
I included a short YouTube video (from the Scripps Research YouTube channel) here in my post for some of the readers that are not too familiar with how vaccines work.
In a nutshell, vaccines encourage the body to recognize its presence by producing antibodies that aid in the fighting of any incoming viruses that have similar characteristics to the vaccine. Amazingly, our body remembers any foreign, harmful substances that enter our body and in response to the presence of these substances, they create these antibodies. Vaccines are there to take advantage of the human body's amazing ability to sustain itself.
What if the vaccine injected on me suddenly activates and I then become infected with COVID-19?
What makes the COVID-19 vaccines less likely to cause infection with COVID-19 is that it is a new type of vaccine called an mRNA vaccine. This type of vaccine only mimics the spikes present in the COVID-19 virus (i.e. SARS-CoV 2 virus) and is not the traditional form of vaccines that are inactive or dead versions of the actual virus. In addition, researchers have found that mRNA vaccines are more effective than the traditional ones like the flu vaccine shots that we usually opt of get every year.
I do not want to rob the video anymore of its spotlight, so I encourage you to watch this very short video to know more about how vaccines are prepared and securely tested to make them safe to use. What I love about video contents is that all the super geeky information are summarized into very simple, easily digestible content, so videos related to these can be shareable to everyone.
Say Hi to my zoomed in face. Hahaha.
See you in my next blog post! 😁
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4. My Vaccination Experience
I was assigned by the Project Balik Buhay (PBB) team to be vaccinated in a newly opened vaccination center here in the University of San Carlos - Talamban Campus last June 16, 2021. Since this is a big vaccination site, the entire center was specifically located in the basketball court of the university.
I took the photos while being situated in the Step 1 section of the site. For Step 1, you are required to fill out some forms related to your personal information, as well as sign some papers that indicate your full consent to be vaccinated. I am kind of nervous at this point because given that vaccines do not have the same effects on every person, I do not know what to expect (I don't like unpredictable situations, though. Hahaha. It's my thing. Lol.). It is very important that before you go to the vaccination site, you need to have a registration number that signifies your pre-registered information in the system. I don't know for other vaccination groups like Resbakuna, but walk-in vaccinations may have different guidelines as compared to mine which follows a pre-registration process.
The Step 2 includes the collection of baseline vital signs. This is where the part where it gets funny because I got a slightly higher heart rate and above normal blood pressure. Omg! Will I get evicted from the site because of this? Lol. Hahaha. I'm actually one of the many people that get psychologically nervous every time I see a BP meter, which then gives me a bad result afterward. The nurse laughed because it was totally obvious in my face that I am nervous about this whole thing, but she told me to just be relaxed because the entire vaccination process is too harmless to spend your nervousness on. Okay, nurse, I'll believe you. Bantay lage ba. Hahaha.
The health screening and submission of consent forms was done in Step 3. The assigned health worker will ask you questions related to your medical history, most especially on any instances in the past wherein you responded to any allergic reaction. As far as my memory is concerned, I only got allergies to crabs and shrimps, which I believe is normal for the majority of the population. The vaccination card was also given in this step. You need to fill out the details in the card and keep in mind to never lose it because you will still be bringing this card in the next schedule for the second dose. Also, I just found out that most travel agencies and terminals, as well as some food/shopping locations, give perks to those that have a vaccination card with them. It's like a senior citizen's ID loaded with discounts and freebies! You better keep it or else you'll lose a lot of opportunities to save in any favorite cafe or restaurant that you want to visit.
So here I am in Step 4, the vaccination step. This is finally happening! Haha.
In this section of the vaccination site, several people are waiting in batches to take their turn. As you can see in the picture, each vaccine vial serves 6 persons and requires preparation time. However, based on my experience, the waiting time is not too long (well, probably because it is still morning at that time so only a couple of people are with me at that schedule). We are given priority numbers and then once our number is called, we then go to the table where we will get injected.
I took a photo of the table assigned to me. I am sitting in the waiting area. The health worker informed me that I will be the next person to be injected after the guy in a sky blue shirt.
This is moment! I am finally vaccinated. What's more, my vaccination process was well-documented by a volunteer who really approached me and asked if I want to have pictures. Of course, I do! Thank you sir for the pictures. Never mind the tummy. Haha. I decided to be jabbed at the right arm because I am left-handed. To those who are about to get vaccinated, make sure that you inform the health worker that you want to be injected in your non-dominant hand. Left-handed people are only a small fraction of the population, so if you are left-handed like me, inform the health worker right away.
After the vaccination, it is necessary that you undergo Step 5, which involves the monitoring of your baseline vital signs and checking on any allergic reactions that may happen to you within the first 30 minutes after the vaccine has been administered to you. This is the waiting game and also a praying game to us, that no one would get severe allergies to the point of being sent to the hospital through an ambulance. As you can see in the picture that follows, on my shirt was a small stick-on paper that contains the time that I am allowed to be released from the site. I made use of the 30 minutes waiting period by watching some vlogs and video tutorials of my favorite mobile gaming app. Fortunately, nothing bad happened within the waiting period.
Step 6 is the discharge section, wherein I was given further instructions and rules to follow after I get vaccinated. Specifically, some reminders that were given to me include the food and activities that I should not eat and do within 24 hours as a way of preventing any reactions that my body may do because of the presence of the vaccine in my system. Of course, part of the step is the obligatory picture in the photo op section of the vaccination site. I am glad that my co-teachers are there to join in with me to also lessen the shyness to be photographed together with some other vaccinated individuals.
I want to commend the entire team of volunteers in Project Balik Buhay who were very accommodating and who were able to organize the entire process smoothly for everyone.
As for my post-vaccination side effects, I experienced the "normal" symptoms, which included a numb, heavy feeling on the injected arm, as well as a sudden mild weakness a few hours after being vaccinated. The symptoms disappeared after a day. I do not want to emphasize this part so much because then again, each person has a different reaction to the vaccine. The good thing is that there are hotline numbers that will contact you a few hours after being vaccinated to notify you that you can contact them in cases of emergency.
So that's it for my vaccination experience! I encourage everyone to share their own experiences to also motivate the general public about this very important matter. After all, we are doing this not only for ourselves but for the safety of the entire Filipino community.
See you in my next blog post! 😁
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About the Author
Jay Malila
A Filipino chemical engineer working as a Chemistry and Research teacher to Senior High students. Aside from his full-time job, he explores his "frontiers" as he begins to start an online business, do private tutorials on professional courses, and work as a financial advisor. He aspires to influence the youth through his vocation as a teacher, as well as deliver compelling ideas through his own blogs and other forms of content in social media.