Astra Zeneca log, day 1
May. 20th, 2021 04:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jhameiaWell, first Day 0 I guess:
My buddy M had to bail on me because the side effects of her shot were fucking her up, otherwise she would have given me a ride over. I was fully prepped to take the train, but my dad came around 7pm to get the maid, and offered a lift. I got there around 7.30pm.
Now, we've been getting a lot of reminders to not come TOO EARLY for our appointments, because, all the slots are full!! We're not necessarily going to get in earlier. The guideline is to come half an hour before the appointment time, and no later than ten minutes before. So I get in with the 7.30 crowd. There are three stations, mine is Station 1, and it's also the one with the shortest line somehow, at that moment. I'm the very last in line in my batch, and somehow end up at the front row of seats. The first check-in station. That's where we confirm signing into the World Trade Centre via QR code, confirm our appointments and eligibility, and get briefed on what to expect next.
In Malaysia we're using an app called MySejahtera (states might have their own local apps, but they all ultimately feed into the same system), and I'd gotten a ding earlier in the day that my profile went from Green to Yellow: Casual Contact. No quarantine needed, but an alert to let me know that someone who went to a store I've been in recently has caught COVID. Wash my hands. Stay home unless absolutely necessary.
Some other amusing things:
- cucuk means to poke, maybe to stab, and the guy who came up with the hashtag was absolutely doing this on purpose
- this is the time many of us discover that the Putra World Trade Center (hence why it's PWTC) recently rebranded to become World Trade Center Kuala Lumpur, literally a couple of months before the pandemic, LOL!
- my appointment was the result of blindly clicking on the site that opened up slots since the AZ shot was taking out of the national program (people were signing out of the program in droves when they heard about the potential bad side effects) (we are otherwise administering SinoVac and Pfizer) followed by a lot of anxious waiting for confirmation of a slot
I ask the volunteer in charge, a middle-aged Malay man with a friendly gravitas, if the Yellow profile was going to be an issue, and he goes "hrm" for a second and decides no, I just have to make sure I sanitise my hands going in. Which I did at every opportunity. Lots of sanitising stations.
Because I'm in the front row, I'm also the first to get up and move to the next station, which is delineated via stiles. It feels a bit like following a hamster maze, ngl! But who cares. (I gather from Twitterjaya that there had been a kerfuffle earlier with the expansion of stations and volunteers not being clear in their instructions--they must have worked out the problems by now.)
The second station is forms--volunteers laying two forms on each chair, and we fill them out, but we don't sign just yet. We have to sign in the presence of one of the doctors after being briefed with further information and disclaimers. I somehow get 2483--the number is 2423. Somehow those earlier numbers go to people who come in later than me? Whatever.
The next station is ... another waiting area, to get briefed by the doctors in small groups of 2 - 3. He tells us about the risks, the possible side effects, how to deal with them instructions on what to log. He signs our papers, keeps one, sends us off to the next station.
And then I get my shot! There are a bunch of booths and volunteers corralling us into waiting seats. I get my shot on my left arm (which might have been a mistake, it's hard to play Merge Dragons when I'm right-handed and laying on my arm right now), and it goes by real quick, I get a few selfies in before I am told to scan the QR code on the wall outside the booth. Then I head downstairs to the observation area, and after a few minutes, someone briefs us in groups about the side effects and what we should do, depending on severity level. But we do have to log the side effects in the app. Then we get a little card! And surrender the other form, and we're off.
I started my day pretty ho-hum, maybe a bit light-headed, and unable to concentrate, so I take it easy with my correspondence and workday. My dad has left a package with the worker of my mom's shop--it's from my housemate in Berkeley, and contains some anticipated mail.
Around 3pm, I finally pull on some Actual Clothes and head on over, and when I get back, I start feeling some side effects: a mild fever. I can't really sleep! But I have a fever anyway. I made a couple of phone calls and WhatsApp my dad to bring a blanket when he comes to get the maid.
I go get my blanket. I keep making rice porridge, and eat it with corned beef. Now I'm documenting my fod choices on Twitter because I'm a bit loopy and determined to eat as many desserts as I can!
My buddy M had to bail on me because the side effects of her shot were fucking her up, otherwise she would have given me a ride over. I was fully prepped to take the train, but my dad came around 7pm to get the maid, and offered a lift. I got there around 7.30pm.
Now, we've been getting a lot of reminders to not come TOO EARLY for our appointments, because, all the slots are full!! We're not necessarily going to get in earlier. The guideline is to come half an hour before the appointment time, and no later than ten minutes before. So I get in with the 7.30 crowd. There are three stations, mine is Station 1, and it's also the one with the shortest line somehow, at that moment. I'm the very last in line in my batch, and somehow end up at the front row of seats. The first check-in station. That's where we confirm signing into the World Trade Centre via QR code, confirm our appointments and eligibility, and get briefed on what to expect next.
In Malaysia we're using an app called MySejahtera (states might have their own local apps, but they all ultimately feed into the same system), and I'd gotten a ding earlier in the day that my profile went from Green to Yellow: Casual Contact. No quarantine needed, but an alert to let me know that someone who went to a store I've been in recently has caught COVID. Wash my hands. Stay home unless absolutely necessary.
Some other amusing things:
- cucuk means to poke, maybe to stab, and the guy who came up with the hashtag was absolutely doing this on purpose
- this is the time many of us discover that the Putra World Trade Center (hence why it's PWTC) recently rebranded to become World Trade Center Kuala Lumpur, literally a couple of months before the pandemic, LOL!
- my appointment was the result of blindly clicking on the site that opened up slots since the AZ shot was taking out of the national program (people were signing out of the program in droves when they heard about the potential bad side effects) (we are otherwise administering SinoVac and Pfizer) followed by a lot of anxious waiting for confirmation of a slot
I ask the volunteer in charge, a middle-aged Malay man with a friendly gravitas, if the Yellow profile was going to be an issue, and he goes "hrm" for a second and decides no, I just have to make sure I sanitise my hands going in. Which I did at every opportunity. Lots of sanitising stations.
Because I'm in the front row, I'm also the first to get up and move to the next station, which is delineated via stiles. It feels a bit like following a hamster maze, ngl! But who cares. (I gather from Twitterjaya that there had been a kerfuffle earlier with the expansion of stations and volunteers not being clear in their instructions--they must have worked out the problems by now.)
The second station is forms--volunteers laying two forms on each chair, and we fill them out, but we don't sign just yet. We have to sign in the presence of one of the doctors after being briefed with further information and disclaimers. I somehow get 2483--the number is 2423. Somehow those earlier numbers go to people who come in later than me? Whatever.
The next station is ... another waiting area, to get briefed by the doctors in small groups of 2 - 3. He tells us about the risks, the possible side effects, how to deal with them instructions on what to log. He signs our papers, keeps one, sends us off to the next station.
And then I get my shot! There are a bunch of booths and volunteers corralling us into waiting seats. I get my shot on my left arm (which might have been a mistake, it's hard to play Merge Dragons when I'm right-handed and laying on my arm right now), and it goes by real quick, I get a few selfies in before I am told to scan the QR code on the wall outside the booth. Then I head downstairs to the observation area, and after a few minutes, someone briefs us in groups about the side effects and what we should do, depending on severity level. But we do have to log the side effects in the app. Then we get a little card! And surrender the other form, and we're off.
I started my day pretty ho-hum, maybe a bit light-headed, and unable to concentrate, so I take it easy with my correspondence and workday. My dad has left a package with the worker of my mom's shop--it's from my housemate in Berkeley, and contains some anticipated mail.
Around 3pm, I finally pull on some Actual Clothes and head on over, and when I get back, I start feeling some side effects: a mild fever. I can't really sleep! But I have a fever anyway. I made a couple of phone calls and WhatsApp my dad to bring a blanket when he comes to get the maid.
I go get my blanket. I keep making rice porridge, and eat it with corned beef. Now I'm documenting my fod choices on Twitter because I'm a bit loopy and determined to eat as many desserts as I can!
(no subject)
Date: 2021-05-20 01:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-05-20 02:07 pm (UTC)