There’s Strengthening Your Immune System And Then There’s This
CURRENT EVENTS, ENGLAND, IGNORING & INATTENTIVE, LONDON, MEDICAL OFFICE, NURSES, UK, VOLUNTEER | HEALTHY | FEBRUARY 17, 2021
I’m a volunteer marshall. I do anything required at a vaccination site to make things go smoothly, except preparing and giving the actual injections, though I have applied to be trained to do that, too!
The tested vaccine protocol for both vaccines currently on offer in the UK is two doses, three weeks apart. The government has decided to focus on getting as many people their first vaccination as soon as possible, so patients are being told to wait twelve weeks for their second vaccination. I was vaccinated three weeks ago, which means I am ready for a second shot, but I probably won’t be called before Easter; it’s the end of January now. However, I am working on the front line, so I will take it if they offer it to me. Before administering the vaccine, they ask a series of screening questions — allergies, are you well today, etc. — and one of them is, “Have you had a vaccination of any kind in the last seven days?”
I’ve arrived late for my shift at a site I haven’t visited before. I go to the check-in desk where patients go when they arrive to pick a fresh mask up before finding something to do.
I take a mask from a box on the table and indicate my hi-viz.
Me: “Thanks. I’m a volunteer; I have just arrived.”
Admin: “Great, just take a seat there.”
I sit in front of a nurse, thinking she is going to deploy me.
Nurse: “What’s your date of birth and NHS number?”
Me: “What’s happening here?!”
Nurse: “Don’t worry; I’m not going to give you an injection.”
Phew! She asks a few more questions and I see where this is going.
Me: “You are not going to give me an injection, but after this, someone else will?”
Nurse: “That’s right.”
Me: “I had the [Company
#1 ] vaccine on the eighth.”
Nurse: “That’s fine; it’s more than seven days ago.”
Me: “What vaccine are you using today?”
Nurse: “[Company #2].”
Me: “But I had the [Company
#1 ]!”
It took a few more moments to work it out. It had been a long day, and she had asked these questions a lot. There was much laughter as the people nearby had wondered why I kept saying [Company
#1 ]! If I had been at the end of my shift and as much on autopilot as she was, I might have been an n=1 study of the effects of mixing two vaccines.
I guess it’s a reminder to own your own healthcare.