The Fauci-Ouchy
On March 11, 2021, hubs and I received our Janssen COVID-19 vaccines at the local Costco warehouse store. It impressed upon us with a seamless assembly line spanning from the check-in verification, vaccination, to post-vaccine observation. Friendly staff were on hand to sanitize the site as well as answer questions. There’s a free offer of bottled water to boot.
Four hours past vaccination, hubs experienced injection site soreness and minor body aches.
I, on the other hand, suffered from severe side effects starting with chills. I had to resort to wool blankets on top of an electric blanket to keep my body from trembling. Eventually, the chills subsided and I managed a few hours of shut-eye. Then the worst splitting, migraine-ish headache set in with severe nausea, tachycardia, and elevated body temp, but zero pyrexia. A brief and single occurrence of tinnitus ensued.
At 4.30a.m. on March 12, 2021, I had to call my primary care physician to speak with the nurse on call.
After following the medical advice of taking 2 tablets of Extra Strength Tylenol every 8 hours, I finally found a bit of relief in the afternoon. That said, my eyes were sensitive to light and I lost the sense of taste and smell perhaps due to the migraine-ish headache. I could only manage to eat fruit and yogurt.
On March 13, I felt much better, yet I still had not much of an appetite. On March 14, I am able to resume my fitness routine and normal daily activities. I think I am definitely on the mend. The odd thing is: despite my appetite making a gradual comeback, my taste buds have changed somewhat.
Since Janssen COVID-19 vaccine is relatively a new comer, outside the clinical trial data, there’s currently insufficient patient resource in the trenches. My side effects notwithstanding, I DO NOT regret getting the Fauci-Ouchy.
“一只蜂釀不成蜜一顆米熬不成粥” One bee cannot produce honey; one grain of rice cannot produce a meal.
It takes a community effort to achieve an end goal. I pay my tribute to all the lives lost to this pandemic. Meanwhile, I sincerely hope there will be an equitable vaccine distribution on a global scale.
