Tag Archives: pfizer vaccine

PICKids Malaysia coming to an end

Posted in Everyday Life, Parenting, Family and Relationships by

The nation’s Covid-19 vaccination programme is coming to an end. I am not sure what the numbers are at the moment – I don’t really know how many parents choose to vaccinate their children but I daresay that my state has achieved its target. I’ve had my firstborn vaccinated but my daughter hasn’t got her jab yet as she doesn’t fulfil the vaccination criteria for kids.

Once PICKids end in Mid-May, those who wish to vaccinate their kids will need to get it at a private clinic with a fee as it is no longer funded by the Ministry of Health. My daughter would most likely get a Pfizer or Sinovac later. It doesn’t really matter to me as long as she is protected in one way or another. As for my son, he was OK after the jab. No fever. Just minor arm pain. Kind of had the experience recorded and uploaded on YT.

We are in the ‘transition to endemic’ phase and already we are swamped with the pre-COvid KPIs etc. So, in a way, we really need to get our focus back on preventing diabetes, hypertension, and heart diseases. We need to divert our effort better to our antenatal care, our adolescents and whatnot. We need to get back to our TB screening, STDs, methadone clients and dengue risks.

We need to get into the new normal soon.

The after effects of Pfizer’s 2nd dose of injection

Posted in Medicine/Health by

The ideal window for the 2nd jab is within 21 days but my batch of 6 people were deferred to a different date because of work commitment. But it is still within the 42 days stretch permissible. After the 1st dose, I only had minor discomfort on my injected arm but the 2nd dose made a quite an impact.

The effect started exactly 24 hours after the 2nd dose.

I had my shot in the evening around 3pm. When I woke up the next day, it was just that recognizable discomfort on my arm. Later on in the afternoon, I felt some body ache. A mild one cause I was still able to go to work. I was still able to joke around. But things got worse later in the afternoon. Coincidentally I had to wear the PPE as I had to take some PCR samples from suspected people with Covid-19. throughout the sampling I was OK but after – I felt like I had been hit by a lorry. That is the expression somehow Malaysians use when they describe severe muscle pain. Not that they’ve been hit by one and survived anyway. Or is it a universal expression? I don’t know.

My body was heating up. I had to use my kids paracetamol since I couldn’t find an adult tablet. After my shower, I felt stiff as in I just want to lie down on the bed and watch Youtube (hehe..). And so I did for about half an hour. After that, I went to the kitchen to cook dinner in slow motion. I was dying for a home cooked meal even though I am not a terrific one at it. I managed to cook up a spread of Basmathi rice, scrambled eggs with mushroom, fried chicken and vegetable soup. After the meal, I continued to lie on the bed stretching my body like a kitty cat and ended up having an early turn in for the night.

I wanted to report the symptoms on Mysejahtera but found out that the button is not available. Not to find fault with it but more of a notification so that the vaccine provider could collect this data and analyse the stats. This means I need to report it on the website under consumer vaccine report. I woke up this morning feeling better though. Even the discomfort on my arm has worn off. I guess the worst part of the 2nd dose is over.

Vaccinator Team in action

Posted in All in a days work by

Being in the middle of the medical fraternity food chain, puts you in a position where you have to cover for those above you or below you. In other words, you clean the mess or be the diving midwife (bidan terjun). The national vaccine programme started on the 24th of February 2021. It was officiated by the PM, Tan Sri Datuk Muhyiddin Yassin. On the same Friday, the first few vaccinator team members had their jabs including myself. Our moments were very low-key. No banners, no speech, just sign the consent, had the vaccine, observed for 30 minutes and then we were good to go. We received the Pfizer brand where 1 vial = 6 people.

The following week, there was an officiating ceremony at my state by the Chief Minister. I was told that I need to do some briefing for the participants. I was expecting that the CM will be one of them with his entourage. Maybe bodyguards or office staff. Turns out it was a big event for all the big guns in the state. I was flabbergasted. I was not prepared for this. I mean, what kind of honourifics do they use? how best should I address them? The last thing I want is to piss off an official just because I got the name wrong. shouldn’t you have like at least a specialist to give the briefing? why have an ikan bilis like me?! Until now, I still cannot brain the logic of having a medical officer doing this very important task. ni memang nak throw me under the bus ke apa.

I still ploughed through the sessions. Thankfully, there were no mean comments. The officials were quite nice actually apart from a few who had their nose stuck in the air. After the morning session, my team had a quick lunch and zohor prayers. We had an appointment at TYT’s place. 12 people are due to be vaccinated there. Again, another briefing. I was totally exhausted from the adrenaline. There was another medical team on standby from the emergency department. They sent an emergency physician to lead the team. I felt relieved. At least, there is a specialist I can consult should shit happens.

My day ended at 6pm. That’s just the 1st dose. I wonder if I have to see them on the 2nd dose.