First Shot of Comirnaty!
So here I am, then, back home from the CityWest Convention Centre where I had my first shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which is actually called Comirnaty. The vaccination centre was very busy (with parking quite a long way from it) so it took a little longer than anticipated to get in and out, but only by 45 minutes instead of the expected 30 so nothing at all to complain about.
They don’t allow photography inside the place, which is a huge theatre/auditorium, though only the floor space is used for this purpose. There was quite a lot of queueing: first for an ID check, then to register, then to get the jab. The lady in front of me in the queue said it was like Ryanair, but it rather reminded me of one of those laboratory experiments with rats. Most people were very relaxed and happy to chat while waiting, but one or two seemed very anxious. That had probably been anticipated and there were friendly faces on hand to help calm people down if there were signs of distress. Not everyone likes crowds and not everyone likes needles, and no doubt for some the combination of the two is especially difficult.
Quite a lot of the people running the show were members of the Irish Defence Forces, including the guy who gave me my jab. After that I adjourned to the crossword-solving area for the mandatory 15 minutes of observation, before heading out and back to the car for my lift back home.
So there I am, phase one complete. No side effects so far but it’s too early for that just now anyway. Thanks to all the on-site staff – many of whom are volunteers – for being so friendly and well-organized. See you again in due course for the second shot!
UPDATE: 12th May 2021. It’s now 24 hours since my first dose and thankfully I can report no ill effects whatsoever. The leaflet I’ve got does say that a reaction is more likely after the second dose than the first, but so far so good!
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In the Dark 
May 11, 2021 at 2:17 pm
Presumably you had to sit in the building for 15 minutes after the shot, with someone keeping an eye on you, to ensure no strong reaction? When I had my first Pfizer shot the lady sitting in front of me did not feel well within a few minutes.
Arm was OK to begin with but became tender that night – better in a day or so. My wife had no reaction at all but she has effectively no immune system. My son had quite a strong reaction to the Astrazeneca one – sore head and joints for a few days.
I have heard that there is more of a reaction to Pfizer second dose than Astrazeneca. Don’t know if this is true.
May 11, 2021 at 2:42 pm
Yes, that was the crossword-solving area I mentioned in the post.
The literature I was given also suggests side effects are more likely after the 2nd dose than the first.
May 11, 2021 at 6:01 pm
Sorry missed that bit. In grant-writing mode at the moment and int turns brain to mush (or even more mush….)
May 11, 2022 at 5:46 pm
[…] another example because I was reminded that it was on this day (11th May) last year that I received my first shot of Covid-19 vaccine. It’s very hard for me to accept that it was just one year ago that I was waiting in City […]