Twentytwo13

My first Covid-19 vaccination experience was a breeze

On Oct 2, I got my first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at Multimedia University (MMU) in Cyberjaya, under the Adolescent National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

It was an uneventful morning. For starters, I woke up rather late.

At noon, after a late brunch of two roti telur and dhal, I decided to check my mum’s MySejahtera mobile application. Mum had registered me in her MySejahtera as her dependent for the vaccination.

I grabbed the handphone from her as she walked into my bedroom. She said to me, “There is nothing there boy, I checked this morning.”

I had a strong intuition that I may have obtained my vaccination appointment. When I opened the mobile application, there it was.

“I GOT MY VACCINATION DATE!” Mum looked at me and thought I was joking. But I wasn’t.

I rushed out of the room, calling out to my dad, telling him that I had received my vaccination appointment. He asked for the appointment date.

I looked at the phone again. To my disbelief, I realised the appointment date and time were Oct 2, at 11am.

It was already slightly past noon and I had clearly missed the appointment time.

Mum told me to quickly get dressed. I rushed back to my room, put on a fresh T-shirt and a pair of jeans.

I walked downstairs. Mum laughed at me because my jeans were hanging a few inches above my ankle.

Since the pandemic, I have grown taller (and fatter). I looked ridiculous in my old pair of jeans.

Dad suggested I try his old pair of jeans. I found a pair of his old Levi’s, which fitted perfectly.

I got my mask, packed my sling bag with hand sanitiser, pen and MyKad, and ran into the car where Mum was waiting with the engine running. Dad had a prior work appointment, so he could not drive me to Cyberjaya.

Mum was not familiar with the route to MMU, Cyberjaya. She had never driven to Cyberjaya before. I looked for the venue on Waze and it showed that it was roughly a 30-minute drive to the vaccination centre.

Traffic was heavy since it was a Saturday. After half-an-hour of driving, we arrived at MMU.

I wore double masks and walked out of the car. There were a few stations (checkpoints) that I had to go through to get vaccinated.

At Station 1, after getting my temperature checked, an officer verified my vaccination appointment on MySejahtera.

At Station 2, I filled out a form that included my identification, and health declaration. At Station 3, we submitted the form and Mum had to sign the consent form in front of a doctor.

At Station 4, I sat for a few minutes while waiting for my turn to be vaccinated at one of the cubicles at Station 5.

My heart was beating fast, as I walked into the cubicle with my mum. I said ‘Hi’ to the nurse.

Mum was asked to scan a QR code in the cubicle. As soon as I sat down, the nurse lifted my T-shirt sleeve and rubbed alcohol on my skin. She then drew the vaccine from the tiny vial into the syringe and showed Mum the syringe.

It was all a blur to me. I closed my eyes because I was terrified of needles.

Before I could say “Ouch”, the nurse said, “Okay, done”. I opened my eyes and saw Mum smiling at me.

I said thank you to the nurse and was ushered to the next station, Station 6, for a 10-minute observation. A volunteer then passed me my vaccination card and wrote down the appointment date for my second dose.

I only experienced some minor soreness in the arm where I was vaccinated, and a headache, the next day. I got plenty of rest and drank lots of water.

I am proud that I had my first dose of Covid-19 vaccination.

This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13.

To give the younger generation an avenue to express themselves, Twentytwo13 now has a dedicated space called Young Voices. If you are a young writer (aged between 12 and 17) and would like to have your article published on our news website, send your contribution to editor@twentytwo13.my.

All articles must be accompanied by the young writer’s full name, MyKad number, contact number, and the mobile number of the young writer’s parents/guardians for verification purposes.