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Covid-19, Side Effects After the First Dose, Part 1

 I received my first dose of Moderna vaccine at 4pm on a Sunday. 

During that period, early July 2021, there had been reports of heart inflammations occurring among young males below the age of 30, especially adolescents and those in the early-20s. I bore in mind that I must not stress my heart as heart inflammation is a real side effect, though extremely rare. I am a young male below 30. And Singapore's Health Ministry also recommends that everyone avoids doing any strenuous exercise a week after receiving either the first or second dose, after a 16-year-old boy collapsed at home due to cardiac arrest 5 days after receiving his first Pfizer dose because he lifted weights exceeding his own weight.

No choice. We had to be careful.

At night, before sleep, around 10-11pm, I began to feel hot. I could feel like my body is burning up a bit, but I didn't have a temperature. My arm was slightly sore. I then decided to sleep.

The next day was fine for me. I had no fever, no any side effects. I had a slightly sore arm, but it wasn't painful to the point it was immovable. I could lift it, I could swirl it, I could move it anyway I wanted, but it was a bit painful.

On Tuesday, 3rd day after receiving my first dose, I woke up finding that I could feel my heart pound. It was beating a little unusually hard to the point I was aware of its beating. I didn't pay much attention to it. I had no other side effects. Arm was barely sore anymore, no fever, no fatigue, nothing. I went on to work.

But my heart was still pounding. It was odd. I never had that sensation. At around 3pm in the afternoon I found it super annoying. It wasn't a pleasant feeling being able to hear your heart pound. Hearing your heart beating 24 hours a day was very annoying. I checked my heartbeat - it was regular, around 50-60 per minute which was usual for me. I didn't have any tightness in my chest nor did I have difficulty breathing. The only thing I found unusual was the force of the beating.

I found it odd, so I went to a GP after work. 

I told my doctor I got my first dose two days ago, and explained that I had no other side effects beside the force of the heartbeat. The doctor calculated my heartbeat, checked my blood pressure, and he found nothing unusual. I asked whether anyone had seen him with this issue and he said no. Then, he proceeded to ask me to get an ECG.

I was like, wtf? An ECG? Ok, if it's covered by the company's insurance, okay I'll get it. And luckily it was covered.

I was nervous because I never had an ECG. I thought it was invasive but as it turned out, it was just a simple procedure of sticking a few wires at your chest to get some reading from the monitor. The doctor performed the ECG on me, then after printing the result, he stared silently at the result for a few seconds, leaving me lying there pondering what was happening.

He told me he detected no abnormality from the ECG reading, and so he said he didn't detect any immediate danger to me. But he looked very scared and worried, and based on what happened recently (the 16-year-old boy's case), he said he would refer me to a cardiologist in a hospital. I was shocked. I initially thought he would report my case to MOH as I had no idea how a referral worked that time. But then I realised he simply meant to help me write a referral letter so that I could visit a specialist sooner than making an appointment online. 

I wasn't prescribed any medication, and the staff there gave me the referral letter and kindly taught me how to make an appointment. She initially offered to assist me to make an appointment, but I politely declined. There was no way I could afford a visit to a specialist in Singapore. I had an existing medical insurance, but it required me to be hospitalised to make a claim. And she told me it might take days. By then I surmised my side effects would have gone away. So I actually decided that I wouldn't proceed with making a trip to the hospital, but I thanked her.

But on the next day, when I woke up, I saw I had a missed call. It was only 9am. I didn't have the name recorded but I knew it was a Singapore number. I thought it couldn't be work-related because these people usually Whatsapp or called via WA, so I immediately suspected it might be the clinic. I did some googling, and turned out it was the clinic that gave me the missed call. I called back, and the clinic picked it up. 

For some reason, she urged me to go to the hospital immediately. She said, doctor determined my case as 'urgent', and then she asked me to immediately walk in to an A&E in a hospital to get immediate medical consultation with a cardiologist.

To be continued.

Covid-19 - First Dose Experience

I've finally been fully vaccinated, effective today!

Singapore began allowing PRs and LTPH to receive vaccines from 28 June 2021. We were the last batch to receive, and when the application was open, I jumped to it.

I'll share my experience, beginning with receiving the first dose.

There were a few CCs around me that offered vaccination, but I wanted to receive it as soon as possible. The nearest one offered Pfizer/BioNTech but there was no weekend slot, so I had no choice but to opt for a weekday night slot. But then, another CC, which was a bit harder to get to from my location, had an earlier weekend slot and offered the Moderna vaccine. Wanting to get jabbed asap, I changed to get Moderna instead. (Btw, Moderna doses were administered 4 weeks apart while Pfizer's 3 weeks apart, I would be fully vaccinated at the same time whichever one I had opted for anyway).

To be frank, I was very worried about the first jab. I never had mRNA vaccines before (nobody ever has). So I was actually very, very nervous when I arrived there to get my vaccine. It didn't help that I was alone.

The procedures were simple. I walked in, I was asked to confirm the appointment time (Sun, 4pm), and then I was asked to sit to wait. I waited for only about 10 minutes top, and then I proceeded to registration. I was asked many questions on whether I had any known allergies, taken any other vaccines, whether I was on blood-thinning medications and whatnot. 

After that, I was swiftly led to a set-up booth. There was a very young guy inside, probably younger than me, judging by his looks. He briefed me what to expect, and rather swiftly administered the dose to me. It was quicker than I thought - took about only 2 seconds. Then I was asked to go outside for monitoring for 30 minutes. The whole process was quite shockingly efficient.

Within the 30 minutes, I was really, really nervous and frankly, very scared. But luckily there wasn't any issue, and after 30 minutes I was allowed to go home after being told that my second vaccine shot would be one month later.

Thank you, Singapore, for also giving me a box of mask with 50 pieces, and a 500 mL hand sanitiser.