At the age of 45, I have just had my first COVID-19 vaccination. I arrived at the centre with a feeling of trepidation but didn’t have much time to dwell on that because once in the building I was ushered through to a seating area and within 5-minutes I WAS DONE!
As I was being checked in, a lady in a high-vis jacket said to me “Are you under 40?” and of course I said “don’t be silly, I’m 45!” and skipped off and let the compliment sink in. Under 40 – yes!
I was taken to a huge room with rows and rows of spaced out seats, shown where to sit and seconds later a young guy came over wearing a mask, a plastic apron, blue surgical loves and he was holding a tablet device thingy. He asked me a few basic questions regarding allergies and medication, tapped my answers into his device with his plastic-y fingers, and off he went. Whilst sitting on my designated chair, I was thinking that I recognised one of the nurses who was jabbing another patient – or is it the vaccinee?! Anyway, as soon as she’d finished she came over to me, and it clicked! She was my cervical screening nurse from a while back. I said to her “do you work at the _____ surgery?” she replied “yes” and I went on to say “You did my last smear test” and we both burst out laughing. Gawd. The reason I remember her is because she was lovely at my last appointment and we had a good old natter whilst she was doing the scrape – oooooo THAT WORD! Can you believe it is referred to as a cervical scrape? – makes me shiver.
I found the entire experience friendly, quick and I have the card that everyone is waving around on social media to prove it – me included. I thought I’d feel emotional, but I didn’t really, I just kept thinking what an enormous thing we’ve all been through and how lucky I am to have the choice regarding the vaccination.
I’ll report back in a few days and let you know how I am feeling. I think the initial trepidation I felt was linked to the vaccination side-effects, which are yet unknown for me – it’s only been 4-hours. This weekend, I am meeting two school friends from when I was 11-years old, and there is SO much to talk about and lots of cocktails to consume – I better not feel ill – we’ve waited years and years for this to happen.
If you are an older mum; join my group on Facebook ‘We are Geriatric Mums’
Lucy Baker is founder of this blog, the facebook group and is on facebook and instagram as Geriatric Mum; Instagram / Facebook
She is also a confidence coach and can be found right here > LUCY BAKER WEBSITE
