Accompanying an Individual to the get the Covid-19 Vaccination

Balvinder Singh

In early February I accompanied a community member to get vaccinated. The lady is in her 70’s , she lives alone and had been isolating for some weeks before the vaccine date. Although the individual was feeling confident at the time of receiving the appointment letter a feeling of anxiousness had come over her. She had read about the the vaccine and was reassured that the Pfizer and AstraZeneca were both completely safe, reliable and contained no animal products. Furthermore, being immunised meant less risk of being infected with the virus and less risk of becoming seriously ill if she had caught it.

I was asked to accompany her to and from the vaccination centre for moral support. I drove the lady to the centre which was clearly sign posted, well thought out and only a ten minute drive from her home.

On arrival to the centre both myself and the individual were fascinated by the whole process – all staff were friendly and instructions before and after check in were easy to follow.

Time for the needle! Sleeve rolled up, left arm on the knee, window down. Within seven seconds the procedure was complete. In fact the patient was not even aware that the vaccination had taken place! Her exact words after the process were “ that’s me ready” , I replied “that’s you done !” The ambulance service were also present in case of an emergency/side effects post vaccine. Fortunately, no side effects other then a slightly heavy arm. No bed rest necessary!

The whole procedure and process was nothing short of a royals Royce operation! Absolutely worth getting vaccinated. It didn’t hurt at all I’m told.