Vaccinated healthcare workers share their anxiety, excitement

Against a background of at least 340 public healthcare workers having died of Covid-19-related illness last year, government’s roll-out plan to inoculate thousands front-line doctors, nurses and hospital staff, has taken off smoothly – but not without post vaccination symptoms.

Front-line healthcare workers at Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria yesterday told The Citizen about their vaccination experience, with emergency medicine specialist Dr Vidya Lalloo describing her anxiety about receiving her jab.

“I watched as colleagues from other countries boasted about receiving their vaccines and prayed for the day that it would be our turn,” said Lallo.

“The vaccine is the key element to curbing Covid-19. Prevention by using the vaccine to build immunity is the only way to tackle this disease. I am grateful to have received it.”

With “a phobia for the needle”, Lalloo did not hide her dislike for injections.

“It is a sore point for me – I hate receiving injections,” said Lalloo, adding: “The injection itself was not painful.

“It just left my arm with a heavy feeling for the next two to three days.

“I felt fine the same day after the receiving the vaccine and continued to work as usual.

“The next morning, I woke up with a feeling of brain fog – it was as if my head was in the clouds, with a headache and a bit of a stuffy nose. “My arm still had that heavy sensation and muscle aches, feeling tired.

“Two Panado tablets were enough to fix the muscle aches and dull the headache.

“I took a half-day at work to go home and sleep – better by the following day.

“My advice to anyone taking the vaccine is to anticipate a day or two of feeling fluish.

“Take two Panado tablets every six hours if you feel unwell and don’t plan any serious activities for the next day.”

Dr Maxine Milton, who works as a medical officer at Steve Biko’s emergency department, said of her post-vaccine experience: “I felt the early onset of body pains and chills for about nine hours, after receiving the vaccine.

“I then immediately took two paracetamols and felt better within 30 minutes.

“About six hours later, I felt my body starting to feel extremely cold again, with a mild headache.

“Because I didn’t wait for my immune system to mount a severe reaction, but rather religiously took two paracetamol tablets eight-hourly, without any intense symptoms. No injection is ever a pleasant experience.

“After the small pinch of the needle entering, there was a slight burning sensation as they injected and then it was over.

“The vaccine to me means not losing any more patients to Covid-19. It means a decline in the death toll.”

Sister Asnat Maduna, an operational manager in the emergency unit, said of her experience: “I waited with excitement, especially with the knowledge I have of understanding the importance of the vaccines.

“I was thinking of our colleagues who were infected by Covid-19 and the most painful was those colleagues who we lost,” said Maduna.

“Healthcare workers are still exposed to the virus and all this made me have the drive and the excitement to be vaccinated. “My experience during inoculation was good.

“I was one of those who didn’t develop any symptoms since the day of administration until to date.”

brians@citizen.co.za

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