What happened When I got the AstraZeneca Vaccine

So You Think You Are Strong?

The needle went in.

I flinched a little.

And then nothing. I gave a big sigh of relief. The same for my friend.

There was no pain, I felt normal apart from the slight tingle in my arm where the needle had gone in.

We walked out of this hospital and went to get a coffee. But then something bad started to happen.

It had been a big decision for me to take the vaccine. Let’s just say me and the guys in white coats are not best buddies. I have in the past accepted their decisions without question with some disastrous consequences for me.

Which is one of the reasons why I went down the road of complementary medicines.

Nearly 30 years ago. I became a Reiki master, a Reflexologist and I studied Kinesiology. I became a firm believer in the power of the human body to heal itself and a staunch supporter of natural herbal medicines.

As a result I have been fairly healthy. To give you a bit more insight I can tell you that I haven’t seen a doctor for health problems in well over 6 years and the only medication I take is the occasional aspirin to nurse a hangover.

Whilst I am not an anti-vaxxer I don’t necessarily believe that we all need it. So what changed my mind? Why did I decide to get vaccinated?

There were 2 major reasons:

Travel

I like to travel but with every announcement that came out it was looking increasingly likely vaccine passports were going to play a big part in future travel. Even the airlines like Qantas were coming out on the side of vaccines for travel to protect their staff and other passengers. It seemed to me the writing was on the wall.

Minimizing the effect of the virus

I teach a lot of Italian professionals including those that work on the front line. One doctor told me,

“The third wave is terrible! It’s killing off fit and healthy people over the age of 50.”

This was a big red flag for me as I am the wrong side of 50.

I wanted to know more so I asked his opinions on the vaccine. He told me that whilst the vaccine wouldn’t prevent you from getting COVID it certainly did reduce the severity of the symptoms.

So I reluctantly came to the conclusion that it seemed logical and sensible to opt for the vaccine.

However, a storm was brewing in Europe over the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Suddenly there was a wave of protest against the safety of the drug. People were getting blood clots and dying and as a result the roll out of the vaccine was stopped. To be honest it all seemed a bit illogical. A storm in a teacup.

Yes it’s easy to say and I’m sure if a loved one of mine died I would also be jumping up and down. But when I looked at the data that was released something really didn’t make sense.

To date there seems to have been 39 cases of blood clots out of millions. Exactly how many million is difficult to tell but the figures of 11 mill in the UK, 5 mill in Europe have been posted.

Then a friend pointed out that maybe there were other things going on.

He told me about the tweet by the Belgian politician which disclosed how much Governments were paying for the vaccine. There is a huge price difference!

I’m not a big conspiracy theorist but it did seem to me that some people might have motives to remove AstraZeneca (the cheapest drug) from the market.

I’ll be honest. I was worried.

The negative media coverage really got to me. My friend and I spent days researching checking the trial results, comparing them to the others and trying to decide what to do. Then out of the blue we got offered an appointment.

I was so anxious I thought I had better put things in order in case of my death. When I was done I confirmed the appointment.

I rolled up with my friend to get the jab. There were just 5 of us waiting for the injection. The nurse said it was a very light day as no one wanted the AstraZeneca.

The needle went in.

I flinched a little.

And then nothing. I gave a big sigh of relief. The same for my friend.

There was no pain, I felt normal apart from the slight tingle in my arm where the needle had gone in.

We walked out of this hospital and went to get a coffee. But then something bad started to happen.

My Monkey mind kicked in. “You’re going to die, you’re going to get a blood clot!”

There was no arguing with it. I was momentarily seized by panic. My friend felt the same.

We walked along the street reciting positive mantras and headed for the coffee shop.

We were still okay. Another sigh of relief.

The day passed. I was still alive.

I was tired but OK. Every now and again my monkey mind would start shouting. At one point my arm began to hurt. I rubbed it gently to ease what I imagined to be the bruising from the jab. And then I laughed a huge great belly laugh when I realized I was rubbing the wrong arm!

I was happy to go to sleep but not for long. Every twitch, every muscle spasm was an opportunity for my monkey mind to start up again.

“It’s a clot. It’s a clot!” it screamed.

Needless to say. I was tired when I woke in the morning. I ate my breakfast at 9am and by 9.15 it was being regurgitated back into the toilet. Was that the vaccine? Nah, I don’t think so. It was more likely to have been my sloppy cooking.

We think that we can ignore the press but can we really? Now I understand completely why we should all stay away from the bad vibe press.

I discovered that my biggest reaction to the vaccine has been a mental/emotional one brought on by the mass hysteria spread by the press, and nothing at all to do with the vaccine.

So to anyone wishing to get the vaccine go ahead, but make sure you prepare your mind first!