It is jab and go

Come on over

For the past month, I have been pestered by messages and alerts to go for my seasonal COVID-19 vaccine as the health authorities have considered there is a strain of concern about, a spike in infections leading to hospitalisations, and the danger it poses to those in a vulnerable cohort.

When I took my last booster in June, I left it well over a month from the first notification before I relented. I suppose the other issue is since the autumn of last year, there have been no nearby locations or walk-in centres to obtain the vaccine or booster.

Outskirts for jabs

The nearest locations are at least 2 kilometres and over a mile and a half away. It could easily be walked, though in finding those locations, it might be best to use public transport and then walk back home.

Why they have decided to move all the vaccination locations out of the city centre, I cannot understand, and this activity is no more at GP surgeries or dedicated facilities, but at chemists and pharmacies where it seems spare and probably medically unqualified hands are assigned the more onerous duty of registration with the rather trivial act of jabbing you in the arm.

Following the advice

What I have also found out is less people in the vulnerable cohort are keen on the booster, I have been advised by many unqualified people to shun the booster, but I will only act on sound medical advice. I was chatting to someone about it the other day and they volunteered that the booster knocked them out for almost a week.

In my case, I have tolerated the vaccine quite well, I was pleased that the sterling work by Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman that went into creating the mRNA-type vaccine put out by Pfizer and Moderna was awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Commending the science

On the counts, I have now had 2 main vaccines and 5 boosters, all mainly Pfizer-BioNTech or Pfizer, except the fourth which was the Moderna vaccine. Just over a day and a half of pain in the area of the injection, a little discomfort but no need for an analgesic.

What has surprised me is we are no longer required to wait around for about 15 minutes to gauge the patient’s reaction to the vaccine. You are jabbed and you leave, complications inadvertently handed off to the emergency services. It did not bother me; I took the time to walk back home through strange alleyways and backstreets.

Manchester keeps giving up new secrets about places, people, and buildings. 10 years here and still there is quite a lot to see. 

Cupping a booster at Pfizer 4 : 1 Moderna

Seeking jabs here and there

A few weeks ago, I received a message on my mobile phone that I was eligible for a further COVID-19 vaccination for the autumn, or a booster as one might call them. At first, I looked for the option of a walk-in clinic, but the walk-ins were quite more than a walk away, and none were in the centre of town.

When I took my first vaccination in February 2021 the vaccination centre was just under 2 kilometres away, it was where I returned to in May 2021 for the second shot, both the Pfizer/BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine. Later in the year, in November 2021, I got a booster which was the same, way beside the Manchester City Football Club in an array of temporary Portakabin structures and that was an Uber cab ride to and fro in the brisk winter cold.

Booted from a booster venue

I was alerted to a second booster from April this year and even though I was able to book an appointment, there wasn’t enough information provided, so I eventually found I was ineligible after a rather uncomfortable exchange with a doctor and medical supervisor at the vaccination venue nearby beside the public library at St Peter’s Square.

Whilst I was away in South Africa in July, I received a text message indicating my eligibility for a spring/summer COVID-19 vaccine which I scheduled for early August back at the venue where I was rejected a few months before. I received the Moderna Spikevax booster, then two weeks later I had the Monkeypox vaccine and in September, I took the annual flu jab.

Another booster in the arm

A few days ago, I decided to book an appointment rather than use the walk-in option and the nearby vaccination centre was on the list that I scheduled for this afternoon. I was met at the entrance by security and ushered into the vaccination centre where a doctor had a number of questions about how I was feeling about my allergies and the options for a vaccine.

Having answered her questions satisfactorily, I registered for the vaccine and even had to indicate what arm I wanted to be injected in. I then sat in a musical chairs queue with 2 people in front of me, none wearing facemasks even though we were advised to wear a face covering and I was wearing one.

Soon, it was my turn, for the cold we were all bulked up, I have to take my shirt off to reveal my upper arm as rolling up my long sleeve would not suffice. I was given the new modified Pfizer/BioNTech ‘bivalent’ Covid vaccine that targets both the Original strain of SARS-CoV-2 and the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants.

Yes, the protests remain

The usual after-jab protocols of sitting in the waiting room for 15 minutes of supervision had been dispensed with and there was no need to hold off travel for 2 weeks to allow the effects of the new jab to take hold. If anything, no new side effects are expected apart from redness on black skin and maybe some feverishness or joint pain.

Stepping out and back around to the front of the central library beyond the tram rails was an array of posters and placards, everything about COVID-19 vaccines harming and killing children. I think there has been enough study and research on the effects of vaccines on children that the dosages have been adjusted to reduce or eliminate sensationalist propaganda and conspiracy theories. We however live in a free society with a right to protest whatever causes we espouse.

In my case, I just need to drink lots of water and take rest, the information about my vaccination should appear on the NHS app in 48 hours. I am grateful for the public health activities that have helped me avoid contracting the Coronavirus and as someone generally in the vulnerable cohort, I follow all the medical advice I am given about protection and prevention.

It is now Pfizer 4, Moderna 1, we might be on these boosters for a while for health and maybe more for corporate profits, that’s just the way things are.

Lighting up the next Pfizer

For the second Pfizer

9 weeks and a day ago, I got my first jab of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine and the expected timeframe for my second shot was to be within 12 weeks. In the last few weeks, I have clicked on the old link that suggested I wait for notification from my GP and another booking website I was given by a friend indicated I could not use the service.

Yesterday evening, I received an SMS Text Message from my GP asking that I register for my second shot. There were 7 vaccination centres listed but only one of them with available slots. My GP surgery not there for the taking. I will be returning to the centre when I got my first vaccine, one of the two listed then, but the only one with a slot to book.

The promise of great times

The earliest I could get was next Thursday with three time slots and I chose the one after working hours. The hope is once I get my second jab, I will be fully vaccinated, though there is a possibility I might need a booster shot in the autumn.

We have Katalin Karikó, the Hungarian-born biochemist to thank for her 4 decades-long research on RNA mediated mechanisms on which the Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are based. The activity has been long-running and the application at this time is the culmination of amazing skill and expertise. I would hope she will be the consideration for a Nobel Prize in one of the sciences.

Reference

COVID-19 Vaccines