Living in times of Coronavirus is no joke, it’s been more than a year of being confined in the four corners of our house and no one can tell when it will end. Just when I thought that everything would be back to normal, we are suddenly back to MECQ/ECQ. The never-ending cycle of community quarantine. A lot of us are looking forward to resuming our normal life and some of us think that vaccines will solve this global pandemic. But when I learned that the COVID19 vaccine is already available, I was not excited to register for it. I am not part of the anti-COVID19 vaccine, I’m just not brave enough to take the first shot. I can never forget the Dengvaxia or dengue vaccine issue so part of me was scared to get the vaccine because I don’t know if it is really safe. Read: A Dose of Pneumococcal Vaccine COVID19 Vaccine for Teens In my mind, I don’t need to rush and I will just wait for what will happen. I’m just at home, my husband is working from home and my son is taking online distance learning so we seldom go out of the house. Deciding to get my COVID19 vaccine is not easy because I have an autoimmune disease and I have to stop my medication before and after the vaccine. But everything changed when my husband started to go back in the field, I started to worry for our safety because he is always out of the house. So last month, I finally decided to register for the COVID19 vaccine. Nauna pa magparegister si hubby sa akin pero since I am part of A3, ako ang naunang natawagan for vaccine sa local government namin. I’m thankful to Makati because they allowed my husband to register in their city, since doon naman nagwowork si hubby. We can't choose vaccines so we will get whatever is available. My husband got his first jab of Sinovac, (first week of August) and I got my first jab of Moderna (second week of August). My husband's Sinovac side effects are pain on the injection site, sleepy and parang lutang daw siya. My Moderna side effects naman just pain on the injection site and it is hard to move my arms (bigat ng feeling). Possible side effects of Sinovac 1. Pain at the injection site 2. Headache 3. Fatigue 4. Muscle and joint aches 5. Nausea 6. Diarrhea 7. Cough 8. Chills 9. Itchy Skin 10. Loss of appetite 11. Runny nose 12. Sore throat 13. Nasal congestion 14. Fever Rare side effects of Sinovac 1. Muscle spasm 2. Eyelid swelling 3. Nosebleed 4. Constipation 5. Loss of sense of smell Possible side effects of Moderna 1. Pain, swelling, or redness at the injection site 2. Tiredness 3. Headache 4. Muscle or joint aches 5. Chills 6. Nausea and vomiting 7. Underarm swelling 8. Fever 9. Swollen lymph nodes Rare side effects of Moderna 1. Pericarditis 2. Anaphylaxis 3. Myocarditis When my husband went to Makati, it took him almost two hours (morning schedule) bago siya natapos. So before going to our barangay vaccination site, I even bring a water bottle because I thought it will take me hours but luckily, it only took me more or less 20 minutes to get my shot. Update: Second Dose of COVID19 Vaccine; September 2021 My husband had his second dose of Sinovac and pain on injection site lang ang naging side effect. Mas okay ang second dose side effects niya compared sa first dose. If the second dose of my husband's COVID19 vaccine went well, my experience was the opposite. I had my second dose of Moderna vaccine past 8AM (Friday) and I was still feeling normal throughout the day. But when evening came, my arms started to feel heavy and I'm already in pain so I slept early. Before 1AM (Saturday), I woke up with fever, headache, and muscle aches so, over the weekend so I just stayed in my bed. I was paranoid when I had a fever so I made some research, I've learned that side effects are good signs that the vaccine is working because it triggers the immune system. And it is pretty normal to feel more side effects after the second dose because there are more immune cells ready to attack. So I felt relieved na but I was praying na hindi magtagal ang side effects. Sunday afternoon, I started to feel okay and my fever is going down. On my third day, no more fever, no muscle aches, and no more headache but I can still feel the pain on my injection site pero hindi na affected buong arms. * If you don't experience side effects, it doesn't mean that vaccine didn't work. Kanya- kanya lang talaga ng epekto sa katawan. Update: January 2022 We thought the booster shot is after six months so when we learned that after three months is already okay, we started waiting when it will be available in our local government. So when I saw the announcement, I immediately told my husband about it. Good thing that he no longer needs to go to Makati again, dito na sya sa amin nakapagpabooster, though it took him 2 hours sa pila sa dami kasi gustong magpabooster. Ito yung time na pataas na ang COVID19 cases ulit. He had Sinovac vaccine before so fortunately,, maganda naman ang booster shot niya which is Pfizer. The side effect is only pain on the injection site. Hindi ako sumabay kay hubby sa booster shot because I am afraid of the possible side effects, mahirap kung dalawa kami magkasakit. After two weeks, I had my booster shot which is also Pfizer. And I am lucky because it only took me 15 minutes and I am done. Direderetso lang kasi yung process, yung recovery na yung matagal. I immediately feel the pain on the injection site after one hour, unlike sa Moderna na almost half day bago sumakit. Pero tolerable siya unlike sa Moderna na affected buong arms and mabigat ang feeling. Pfizer-BioNTech Common Side Effects Pain on injection site Fatigue Headache Chills Muscle pain Fever Joint pain Swollen lymph nodes Nausea Decreased appetite Are you also scared to take the risks? “You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen” Paulo Coelho “Do one thing every day that scares you” “To know what life is worth, you have to risk it once in a while” Jean-Paul Sartre “Every risk is worth taking as long as it’s for a good cause, and contributes to a good life.” “Living with fear stops us from taking risks, and if you don’t go out on the branch, you’ve never going to get the best fruit.” Sarah Parish