Prof Dr James Koh Kwee Choy arrived early. It was half an hour before his appointment.
The usual SOPs were followed — QR code scanned, temperature taken, hands sanitised, mask checked and social distancing adhered to.
He joined the others who were already there waiting and soon he was called up. His identity was checked and verified.
Then it was time for a briefing and a ten-minute counselling session with an assigned doctor. A short medical history was taken, covering medical conditions and medications.
He was given time for any questions he might have. When the doctor was satisfied that it was safe for him to receive the vaccine, he was given a consent form to sign.
With everything in order, it was time for his jab.
“It was quite a long process,” says Koh as he recalls his first ‘date’ with the Covid-19 vaccine.
“But the injection itself was very fast and painless, just a very small nick that you don’t really feel at all.”
All in all his appointment took about two hours, including a half an hour post-jab observation.
“They will observe you to ensure that you do not have any severe reactions such as an anaphylactic shock,” explains Koh.
The side effects
According to Koh, side effects vary widely but it is very rare that you will experience severe reactions.
For him, he experienced pain and swelling in the injection area and was tired for about three days.
“I slept a lot,” he says, while some of his colleagues had fever and chills.
It was the second jab though that hurt more. “The effects were more pronounced for me with the second dose. The pain was more intense, my left shoulder was more swollen and I really felt very, very tired and sleepy,” he says.
He also had swollen lymph nodes and the side effects lasted more than a week. “This time I took some paracetamol to ease the pain,” he adds.
Taking mild pain relief such as paracetamol is fine but not non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), he advises.
“There is no need to worry about the side effects because these are expected reactions to a vaccine. It shows that your body is working to produce antibodies,” he explains.
On the flip side, he says that we need not worry if we have no side effects. “That does not mean it is not working. In fact, you should consider yourself lucky!”
You are of course advised to immediately seek medical help if you experience breathlessness or extreme dizziness.
Preparation work
Most Malaysians are still waiting for our appointments, and some of us are going the extra mile to sleep more, eat well and exercise regularly. But is this necessary?
Koh answers with a laugh, “We should always be cultivating good healthy habits!”
He adds, “Yes, be well-rested because when you receive the vaccine, the body is at war. So if you are well-rested, your body will be better at fighting than if you are overly tired. But there really isn’t much we need to do to prepare.”
Similarly, after you have received the vaccine, he says: “If you are feeling tired, rest. Don’t immediately return to strenuous workouts or start an exercise regime if you hadn’t been doing it before. But there are no hard and fast rules. Just listen to your body.”
There is also no need to specifically eat or fast before going for your appointment. “But if you are like me and you get hungry easily, please eat something before you go,” he says. You might even want to bring some snacks with you just in case.
“If you are feeling a bit under the weather you don’t have to be worried. You can still get the jab,” he adds.
The second date
The second dose comes within three weeks after the first. If you can’t make the stipulated date and time, you can reschedule it.
“Just don’t leave it for too long. Although all is not lost if you miss your second dose — some studies have shown that one dose still offers some protection — it is important to have both doses to ensure maximum efficacy,” he says.
In his experience, the second appointment was much faster than the first, taking just a bit more than an hour.
“There is no briefing and counselling session and no forms to fill for the second dose,” he explains.
Your body will build up protection from the virus in about two weeks after the second dose. This does not mean that you are no longer susceptible to the virus.
“You can still get infected. The vaccine does not protect you from the virus. What it does is to prevent you from getting a severe case of Covid-19 that can lead to death,” he says.
At this point, many people might start to question the need for vaccination if this is the case. But Koh explains: “After you are vaccinated, if you get infected, the infection will not be as severe. If the infection is mild, the virus load is less. This means you are less likely to spread it and if you do, it will also be milder.”
This article, provided by the International Medical University Healthcare (IMUH) facility, recounts the first part of Prof James’ vaccination experience.
Do keep a lookout for the second part tomorrow, in which Prof James discusses vaccine precautions, why we should all get vaccinated and most importantly, what we should do on vaccination day.
