I got my first vaccine

 

Disclaimer: this is my personal experience on Jun 24th 2021, there might be some updates in policies, etc

I was afraid. Yes that’s what I felt about this whole vaccination at first. I was afraid of the side effects (from what I heard and read) I don’t know which vaccine was “the best”, and what would I do if I got that side effects, given I was alone at home most of the time.

Then, all of my family members got vaccinated, so did some of my closest friends, and all were convincing that it’s gonna be okay.  My brother sent me a link, vaksinasi-corona.jakarta.go.id explaining that I could get vaccinated just by typing my ID card and it would direct me to a specific location in Jakarta - now everybody, not just Jakarta ID card holder can. I realised that this is for the better, and if I could contribute even with the smallest gesture, and boost my immunity for my own sake too, this would be it.

Registration was easy, less than 10 minutes for me to fill all my personal information and general health questions. I was given options for the available dates and hours, I picked 24 Jun. I rested well the night before (well, less than 7 hours because I was a little bit anxious >.<). In the morning, I had a bread and vitamin C for breakfast.

Sorry for the limited pics in this post, as I was quite anxious being in a public space with a lot of people, and afraid that I would miss informations if I took my focus else where (I KNOW..so focused!). Based on my ID card, I was appointed to a junior high school located in Cilandak, it was very spacious so I was a bit relieved. 

Having done the online registration did have its advantage, because everyone seemed to get there in time as scheduled, so no unnecessary long queue. overall so, because the committee kept a strict numbers on how many people could be there everyday, including the“on-the-spot” registration - I saw a cardboard sign about this went I was exiting the location.

The staffs were very nice, even the parking staff can direct me to them so I wouldn’t get lost. I got a waiting number (40, I arrived about 8.45am), re-registered manually, called for some verification on my data, and told that my vaccine was Sinovac (I think..maybe we could get this information earlier through website, but one of my friends got earlier schedule at the same location, and he informed me about this), then waited for body temperature and blood pressure checking, all well. I then moved into interview about my health history (kind of the same with the questionnaire I filled online), and finally getting the shot. All took less than 10 minutes.

After that I was asked to wait for 15 minutes, just to see if there was a reaction to the shot. When the staff called my name and asked if I feel okay, and I said yes, she said I could go home and back for my second shot on July 23rd. I was given numbers that I could text or call should I feel not good like high fever or anything, or I could just go to the nearest hospital or health center. Good enough for me.

DONE!

Before going home, I stopped by for breakfast, I felt hungry and sleepy the rest of the day.. I ate main meals and snacks the whole day. I felt light stiff/sore in the injection spot and consumed paracetamol and rested well. My body did get warmer around 7 pm, but only for a couple of hours, and it was better after I got some sleep.

My big second breakfast :p

So this is what I gathered from my first vaccine experience, hopefully this is useful:

1. You can do a general check up first or even PCR/antigen test if you have certain condition, or if you want to be sure you are healthy and ready to receive a vaccine. 
2. Online registration to avoid hassle in location
3. Prepare your ID
4. Bring a mini-fan, for a more comfortable waiting - sanitation is a must, extra masks to replace your sweaty ones, water, and your own pen to fill some forms. 
5. Get a well rest the night before
6. Ask questions, gather information of the next vaccination and general health care, contacts, etc
7. Eat, eat, eat - eating healthy food is better :)
8. Move your body, do a little bit of exercise
9. Consume your paracetamol, don’t wait until your body temperature gets warmer
10. Keep a compress fever plaster 
11. Enough resting
12. Share your vaccine experience and information - I think this is good to help your circle for information to get a public vaccine, and normalise their expectation on post-vaccine (Thank you my friends!!)

Hopefully this pandemic is over soon, but meanwhile, stay safe and healthy!