“I Took The Covid19 Vaccine To Protect The Community” – Specialist Nurse

“I took the Covid19 vaccine Pfizer-BioNTech to protect myself and the community I serve”, says Specialist Public Health Nurse Tracy…

The much-awaited Covid-19 Vaccine has finally arrived in Malta. Malta’s healthcare workers are the first to have started to receive the vaccine. Many people are still apprehensive about the vaccine and are not keen to be the first to take it. Wham spoke to Tracy from Berkshire in the UK, a Specialist Public Health Nurse – Health Visitor. Tracy is 59 years old, half Maltese and works with mothers and families with children 0 to 5 years old. Tracy works in her community as a Health Visitor going to visit women and families in their homes. She tells me that it’s her responsibility, as part of her role, to protect herself and the communities she serves from COVID 19.

I was keen to speak to Tracy to find out more about whether she had any side effects from the vaccine and if she could tell us anything we should be worried about or to look out for.

Part of Tracy’s job is informing families about the importance of vaccines and the immunisations for their children. Tracy was very pleased to be one of the first to have taken the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine almost 2 weeks ago. This is the same vaccine currently being administered to healthcare workers in Malta. Tracy explains that she will have to have the second dose of the vaccine within the next couple of weeks and wants to remind everyone that its extremely important to complete all doses of any vaccinations. In the meantime, Tracy still wears all her PPE gear on her visits and keeps reminding me how vital it is for us all to keep social distance, keep washing our hands and to keep wearing our masks.

I asked Tracy about how she felt after taking the vaccine and she tells me that “when I took the Covid19 vaccine personally I did not suffer from any side affects except a bit of a sore arm for the first 24 hours, which can happen even with the usual flu vaccine.”

The official government released information has this to say about the possibility of side effect:

The results of the stage 3 human trials involving thousands of volunteers indicate that side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines are similar to most other vaccines. Such side effects are usually mild, and are actually signs that the body’s defences are building an immune reaction.

The side effects of the Covid-19 vaccine may include fever, headache, soreness or redness at the injection site, and lethargy or tiredness. The symptoms seem to appear more commonly after the second dose, and typically only last for a day or two.

Tracy cannot personally stress enough the importance of taking the vaccine. She also told me about the consent form that she was asked to fill out, understand and sign prior to receiving the vaccine.  The consent form was very detailed, and Tracy was asked about her personal health and what medication she takes, and those with certain conditions or taking certain medication may not be able to receive the vaccine. The importance of the community receiving the vaccine is to achieve herd immunity. Tracy wants to take this opportunity to reassure everyone that for her she felt comfortable in having the vaccine, “I took the Covid-19 vaccine because I had trust in the evidence-based information and guidelines from reliable sources like the NHS and Public Health England and in Malta this will also be the Ministry of Health in Malta”.

---

Have you taken the COVID19 vaccine already? Share your experience with us by filling out the contact us page or send us an email on [email protected]