Jessica PingI received the first dose of the Pfizer Covid Vaccine last week in London, England. This blog post documents my experience. Remember, everyone will have different outcomes and nothing I say here is guaranteed to happen to you! I hope you will get vaccinated as soon as it is available to you and your demographic. Let’s end this pandemic, together.
*Disclosure: There are affiliate links in the following article, meaning that, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using the links, I will receive a small commission.
Introduction
As an active member of the disability community, I have been following the progress of the covid vaccine distribution pretty closely.
I have stated this fact multiple times across my blog, but the Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted people with disabilities (BBC). Not only have more disabled people gotten, suffered, and died from Covid-19 than non-disabled people, but many people in the community have been completely shielding since March 2020. They’ve watched as millions of non-disabled individuals took to the bars, the beaches, and the airports all while they were stuck inside. Some non-disabled individuals see nothing wrong with this and have even been chanting in the streets to “sacrifice the weak,” (Miami Herald).
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After almost a year of disregard and essentially being treated like trash, the disability community became hopeful in November when the new Covid vaccine began to be distributed. Surely, since people with disabilities are more susceptible to the virus, they would be pretty high on the vaccine priority list.
For some people, myself included, that has been the case. Many others have not been so lucky.
Eligibility For The Covid Vaccine
About a week ago, I underwent a small medical procedure. It was my first proper encounter with the NHS here in the United Kingdom. As both a new patient to this practice and a new resident of this country, I am still very unsure of how everything works within the medical field. Timelines seem slow and I have yet to see any of my necessary specialists. So, considering I had the opportunity to speak to a nurse practitioner face to face, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to ask about the covid vaccine.
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Some of the questions I had were the following:
- As a new resident, was I on the list of people that still needed to be vaccinated or did I need to opt-in?
- Would the NHS contact me when my age group was eligible, or would I need to reach out to them directly?
- Approximately, when would someone like me be eligible for the vaccine.
As the socially awkward person that I am, when discussing these questions with my nurse practitioner, I sort of just threw them all out on the table without giving her the chance to respond. She looked at me quizzically and asked for the offical name of my disease.
“CHILD Syndrome or congenital hemidysplasia with ichthyosiform erythroderma and limb defects,” I answered quickly.
She couldn’t find it in her system, so she looked it up, saw that it only affects about 60 people worldwide, and asked me to excuse her while she went to talk to someone.
When she came back in the room, she announced that she was going to declare me as medically necessary to receive the vaccine. I was stunned. Truly stunned.
Disability Privilege In The World Of Medicine
As a visibly disabled individual, I know I have privilege in the medical field compared to those whose disabilities are hidden. This moment, however, was my first real realization of how good I can have it sometimes. Obviously, being visibility disabled is not a privilege in and of itself. I’m more likely to be discriminated against and made fun of because of it. But, when it comes to medicine, because doctors can physically see that something is wrong with me, they are more likely to believe me/take me seriously.
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When I asked my questions, considering all of the stories I had heard about people with disabilities being denied early access to the vaccine, I expected the nurse practitioner to tell me that I’d be waiting until the summer to receive it. I’m forever grateful that that wasn’t the case. Due to the rareness of my condition, even though I am not labeled as immunocompromised, there is no telling how my body would react to Covid-19.
That said, I couldn’t write this post without making mention of the medical privileges I know I have. My heart aches for all the people in the disability community who will be waiting months to receive a vaccine that could quite literally save their life.
The Day Of My Covid Vaccine
Two days after my procedure, I put on my coat and my mask and drove my chair down the road to the vaccination site. It was quite close by, easily less than a 10-minute walk away. I was quite anxious. Not for the jab, though, who really enjoys being stuck by a needle? I was nervous about the side effects.
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The night before, I spent about an hour reading up on the different vaccines and their side effects. Since I had just had a medical procedure that was giving me a bit of discomfort already, I wanted to be prepared for what the next few days could bring.
In my research, I found that the UK was primarily administering two different injections – the Pfizer vaccine and the AstraZeneca (Oxford) vaccine. According to the NHS website, the Pfizer vaccine had milder side effects, often only causing people mild arm pain, fatigue, and headaches. The AstraZeneca vaccine, however, was causing gastrointestinal side effects in 10% of those who received it. As someone with a pretty awful gastro condition already (watch my latest YouTube video to learn more!), I became nervous that receiving that particular brand would cause my illness to flare up.
When I arrived at the center and got in line, I had no idea which of the two vaccines they were administering. As I sat there praying quietly to myself, a man in a yellow vest came to inform myself and those behind me in the line that their vaccine shipment had been delayed so we would have to come back later. Once again, my visible disability almost worked to my advantage and the man asked me to wait around. Apparently they had a few more and he would give me priority over the others.
Within 5 minutes he returned and asked if I was okay with the AstraZeneca dose. I asked if they would be administering the Pfizer vaccine later on in the day. He said yes. And so I politely said I’d prefer that one and decided to leave and come back.
Receiving The Covid Vaccine
3 hours later, I returned and waited in line. It moved very quickly and within 5 minutes I was checked in and sat down comfortably inside. The space was large and all of the chairs were spread evenly apart. Within 15 minutes of arriving, I had received the Pfizer vaccine. Since the vaccine is so new, they required everyone to sit around in a waiting room for 15 minutes after being injected. While I was there, no one had any concerning side effects.
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My Side Effects
On the whole, my side effects were very mild. But, this was only the first dose. When it comes to the Pfizer vaccine, I’ve heard that the second dose often is a little more intense.
Either way, this was my experience:
6 Hours In
- Slight tenderness when pressure is applied to arm.
- Exhaustion
- Chills (our window was open, so could be from that).
12 Hours In
- A little mental cloudiness (it was 3 AM, so this could also be a factor)
- Exhaustion
- Arm pain on the horizon – the dull ache was settling in
24 Hours In
- HELLO ARM PAIN – felt like I had severely bruised my arm, but, obviously, there was no marking present.
- Slight tiredness
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36-48 Hours In
- Arm pain was essentially gone after my second night’s sleep
- Felt a bit nauseous and unwell overnight, but could have just been my gastroparesis
- Slightly tired, but overall more alert than the previous day
Now
- No long term side effects!
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