Two Doses of COVID-19 Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine

I have taken both doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, timed six weeks apart. Being fully vaccinated gives me a peace of mind. Choosing which vaccine to take is a no-brainer. I go with the facts. Taking the vaccine is a personal choice. I'm not vaccine-hesitant or an anti-vaxxer. I'm like, BRING IT ON. GIMME GIMME GIMME. 

I'm pretty happy to mask up everywhere and whenever. The vaccine is a silver lining in this pandemic battle. But it isn't a magic armor. I'm well aware that the vaccine doesn't prevent me from being infected by COVID-19, but it will alleviate the severe and debilitating clinical symptoms that none of us want, and in the event we fall ill, hopefully the vaccine will ameliorate long-COVID-19. We can talk about booster shots next year.

I ran detailed bloodwork and had a chat with my doctor. In spite of my history of anaphylaxis (triggered by food, plants and essential oils) and ongoing flare-ups, we both thought the vaccine was a non-negotiable YES. I had no qualms fudging my declaration to the ministry. I’m responsible for myself. It was only weeks later then the government regulations permitted people with (declared) allergies to get their jabs. Dohhh. 

The first dose saw a minor and quickly-resolved reaction on-site, but after that, no soreness in the jabbed arm or anywhere, no aches, no fever, nothing. Pilates the day after was perfectly fine. The odd little swollen eyes and hives and vertigo that popped up in the weeks after were likely my trained T-cells flexing their defenses. The second dose was supposed to see more side effects because it would elicit a stronger immune response. Six weeks later, this second dose was totally drama-free. No wooziness, no sore arms, no muscles aches, NOTHING. No fatigue even, not on the day of the jab, and not the next day. Zilch. Six hours after the jab, planks, stretches and press-ups done easily made me realize that the minute muscle tears from the needle have healed up. A bit of wine that night, and a swim the next morning told me that all was fine. I think my T-cells decimated the unwelcomed protein without me knowing anything. LOLOLOL

To be honest, I balk at having to do pre-event testing (PET). Sure, it keeps us safe, but it's a massive waste of time. There hasn't been a theater show, concert or event that I desperately wanted to attend between my second jab to being declared fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated people (with certain exceptions) are exempted from PET. I'll do it if I have to, but I can be exempted, I'd prefer not to. Calculated the dates between the second dose and to the technical confirmation of being fully vaccinated. And booked tickets to a few shows. Let's hope they happen! 

Traveling? I can neither justify the risks of falling ill nor getting a positive return for a test in a foreign country, or fulfilling a >10-days quarantine upon coming home. I don't have a compelling reason to do leisure traveling. I'll think about traveling later on. The government should have decided on the quarantine framework by then. They're hoping to have some sort of leisure traveling by December, to have mass movement of humans without too many risks, and without too much inconveniences to inbound travelers and Singaporeans. Not all of us will hop on a plane to be a tourist. Many of us simply want to get to a destination to spend time with loved ones whom we haven't seen IRL for almost two years.