Covid-19 vaccine: ‘It was worth it in the end’

After deciding to help a local NHS service and filling in for administrative workers who caught Covid-19, a KU student received a Covid-19 vaccine.

KU student in Economics, Shah Dara, said after getting the vaccine he experienced Covid-19 symptoms, but had been warned such a reaction is possible.

“As part of NHS Healthcare service, all staff working in healthcare must take the vaccine and I got an email saying that I must get a vaccine. I was a little bit anxious at first, but my mum encouraged me to get it since she also got vaccinated,” Dara said.

When he arrived for his vaccination appointment, the KU student said the doctor made him aware of the possible side effects that may occur after getting the first dose of the vaccine.

“He even told me about his daughter who is a nurse who got vaccinated and became ill for a day after receiving the vaccine.

“Not going to lie I was a bit nervous because most other vaccine injections I had were painful, but this one was actually a quite painless experience.

“After the vaccine injection was done, the doctor gave me a card and the people in the building said I should grab a cup of coffee before leaving and I did exactly that. I went home with a surprisingly tasty mocha coffee drink, but little did I know the pain I was to feel later.

“In the middle of the following night, I began to feel really sick. I woke up at around 3 am feeling really hot, like I was inside an oven and body aching, pain everywhere.

“I tried my best to sleep but I couldn’t sleep. When the sun rose, I struggled to get out of bed. I had headaches and felt immense dizziness.

“So, to remedy this I took some painkiller medicine and felt somewhat better. It was a painful yet temporary experience and the next day I felt a lot better. I guess it was worth it in the end,” Dara said.

KU associate professor in Oncology Pharmacy, Dr Shereen Nabhani, says that such a reaction is normal after a vaccine is injected.

“All vaccines do that. Because if you think about it, we’re exposing the body’s immunity to this genetic material or a weakened version of the virus, so we want the community to mount their response and this is the reaction when immunity is responding.

“People might feel body aches, might get a mild fever, that is a normal response to any vaccine, including Covid-19,” Nabhani said.