‘Jab’ We Met!

Disclaimer – LONG Post

N & I got our first COVID-19 vaccines on Saturday, 8 May 2021. We had booked a slot for Max Hospital Patparganj for 13 May but wanted an earlier one. We rescheduled for BLK – Max Super Speciality Hospital for 8th when we got the availability.

I wanted to write this down to share our experience & to help Delhi NCR folks make an informed choice. Our slot was the first one of the day, 9 AM – 12 PM. The BLK Max Hospital social media pages clearly stated that ‘Reporting earlier than scheduled slot does not mean faster vaccination’.

And this was true. If you’d a slot, you would get the vaccine. We reached at 8:30 AM & had to enter BLK Max & exit out of another gate to get to the Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) grounds where the vaccination drive was being held.

It took us a few minutes to find a parking slot (across the road). There was a long queue already snaking down the road in loops outside the RSSB gate. Now, the BLK SM pages also stated, ‘Wear a double mask and maintain at least 6 feet distance’. But there is no way you can make 1000 Indians maintain 6 feet distance. So, this was a potential hazard. Like an acquaintance said, “The man behind me was coughing. I was scared.” N & I had seen the images of the queue beforehand; so, we had gone prepared (or so we hope). But I will come to that later.

The gate opened at 9 AM. We had stood in the queue from 8:40 to 9:25 AM. At the gate, they were seeing the appointment SMS/ slip. Do not panic to get printouts of the appointment slip as soft copy or even SMS would suffice.

Our temperatures were taken too at the gate. There was a second short queue just outside the shed where the token numbers were being generated. The guards were announcing continuously to maintain distance. A staff member asked our site numbers & issued us tokens. Our tokens were alphanumeric – E091 & E092. Site 1 is A, site 2 is B & so on till site 6 being F. So, E091 denoted 91 serial number in site 5.

We then had to go and sit in the area demarcated as site 5. (On the CoWin portal, please do not get confused about the sites. All the sites are in the same facility, the RSSB ground, separated by rope barriers.)

We then had to wait for our token number to be displayed for us to go to the billing counter. The waiting area was covered and had large fans that provided some respite from the heat & kept ventilation good.

The seating arrangement was moderately distanced. Large screens were continuously displaying token numbers against billing counter numbers. Unfortunately, sites 5 & 6 were facing technical issues that day & were getting delayed, but the other sites were moving rapidly.

Once our turn came, we went to the allotted billing counter, handed over our appointment slips & registered documents, got verified & paid up. We then went to the vaccination booth with the payment invoice.

There were 40 booths, six – seven allotted to each site. At our vaccination booth, a nurse posed us the standard questions –

• Do you’ve any ailment?
• Are you allergic to any medicine?
• Have you eaten & come?
• Are you pregnant?
• Are you breastfeeding?

Once she was satisfied with our answers, she gave us our first Covishield jab – N’s at 10:55 AM & mine at 10:58 AM. She then stamped & signed our invoice with the date, time & name of the vaccine.

We then went towards the exit. Another row of staff members sat there in a file where they saw our signed & stamped invoice and made an entry into a register. This is an important step as this entry determines your exit. The staff make a note in their register of your time of vaccination so that they can let you out only after 30 minutes of observation.

We then waited in the Observation Deck for 30 minutes. There was a refreshment counter from where we picked up shikanji bottles. There was also a medical help area in case anyone had an adverse effect of the vaccine.

After 30 minutes, we went back to the same counter (important as the physical register contains your details). The staff member gave his OK after checking our details & stamped ‘Checked Out’ on our invoice.

We proceeded towards the exit where the security guard checked the ‘Checked Out’ stamp before letting us go.

The pros of BLK Max –

• 1. Open air
• 2. No need to go inside a hospital.
• 3. Maximum number of slots in Delhi NCR
• 4. Systematic arrangement
• 5. Attempt at organized handling of crowd
• 6. Ample staff
• 7. QR code standees which you can scan & pay to save time at billing counter.

The cons of BLK Max –

• 1. Long, inadequately distanced queue outside can be dangerous.
• 2. Billing counters can be choke-points.

Post – Vaccine Process

As soon as we stepped out of the BLK – Max Super Speciality Hospital vaccination ground, I got an SMS from NHPSMS stating, “Dear P, you have successfully been vaccinated with your 1st Dose with COVISHIELD on 08-05-2021 at 11:40 AM. You may download your vaccination Certificate from – https://cowin.gov.in – CoWIN”.

On reaching home, I logged in to the website & downloaded my certificate. Easy peasy! But… The SMS did not come for N. Initially we thought it may be a network challenge. So, N logged in to the CoWIN site to download the certificate directly. But his certificate was not there either. On the contrary, against N’s name, it still reflected ‘Appointment Scheduled’ in red (whereas it said ‘Partially Vaccinated’ in green for mine).

He then called the BLK Max Helpline. The agent was, mercifully, aware of such a problem occurring in isolated cases and asked us to wait for 24-48 hours. According to the agent, for one off cases, it did not reflect in the system immediately.

Now, here, the stamped invoice we had received became important as it was really the only proof that N had indeed got vaccinated. So, please ensure you keep it safely. Luckily, we did not have to wait long.

The next morning, Sunday, 9 May 2021, when we woke up, N’s SMS had arrived, he showed as ‘Partially Vaccinated’ on the CoWIN website, & he could download his certificate. I have seen a couple of panicky questions on social media around the SMS/ certificate not arriving; so, wanted to put this out there.

Post – Vaccine Side Effects

Till about 8 PM on Saturday, 8 May 2021, neither N nor I felt any change in our health. But just around dinner time, I started feeling feverish. I did not check my temperature, but I do not think it was much; may have been around 99 degrees F. My eyes had a mild burning sensation. I had that just-before-you-come-down-with-a-cold kind of feeling.

N, mercifully, did not experience any of this but his arm had started to ache a bit. Both of us ate a paracetamol before sleeping. Almost instantaneously I felt better & slept well. The next morning, Sunday, 9 May, I woke up without any fever but with body ache & malaise. My arm had started hurting too.

I took it easy & slept for most of the first half. I did not take any medicine again. When I finally woke up in the evening, I felt completely fine, except for the pain in the arm. My doctor said that would take three-four days to disappear.

Today is the fourth day & except for a bit of a localized tenderness at the site of the injection, all Side Effects (SE) have evaporated.

The Serum Institute Of India lists down possible Covishield vaccine SE ranging from Very Common (chills, fatigue, headache, bruising/ pain/ redness/ warmth where the injection is given etc.) to Common (a lump at the injection site, fever etc.) to Uncommon (abdominal pain, enlarged lymph nodes, feeling dizzy etc.).

However, the Serum Institute of India further clarifies that this may not be an exhaustive SE list and that serious effects may occur too. In case of any serious SE, SII advises going to the nearest hospital.

So, I experienced a few of the Very Common SE while N experienced just one. I know people who experienced Common SE that lasted two days and also people who did not experience even a single effect.

So, yes, SE occur after the vaccination, &, no, it is not necessary you will experience them. Please do not let the fear of SE deter you from getting vaccinated.

Preparation for Vaccination

We were dissuaded by a few friends from going for the vaccination. Their argument was that it was unsafe to go in a crowd/ hospital currently as there had been cases of people returning with the virus along with the vaccine shot.

The argument was valid but all the doctors we spoke to said the danger was there even if we did not step out of our house. All the doctors urged us to take precautions but to get the vaccines at the earliest.

So, we researched a bit about safety norms to be followed during vaccination and came across the below video which gave simple steps to stay safe during a vaccination.

We are no experts but just listing down the things we did that, hopefully, kept us safe –

• We kept our immunity high in the run-up to the vaccination with anti-infective, multivitamin & zinc supplements.
• We took our monthly Vitamin D a couple of days before the vaccination.
• On the vaccination day, we knew we had to wear clothes that would save vaccination time. BLK – Max Super Speciality Hospital had put out a post for this on its social media pages. However, I was also clear I wanted to cover every inch of my skin. So, I opted for a sleeveless kurta with jeans. I wore a full sleeved shrug on top which gave access to my upper arm in a jiffy.
• Socks and shoes covered my feet. Shoes served another purpose – of being able to stand on asphalt for almost an hour and walking for about half a kilometer.
• Now for the protective equipment. We double masked – a cloth mask on top of a surgical mask. Face shields further covered our faces and gloves for our hands.
• At the vaccination ground, we used a sanitizer on our gloved hands frequently.
• I used my phone sparingly. Yes, I just sat & stared at the screens ahead!
• We did not remove our masks even for a second, not even for photographs.
• After the vaccination, as soon as we reached our car, we removed all the protective equipment – shield, masks & gloves – & put them in a plastic bag & sealed it. We sanitized our hands again & wore a fresh set of double masks.
• As soon as we reached home, the first things we did were to (a) spray sanitizer over my handbag & our shoes; (b) put our clothes directly in the washing machine; and (c) take a bath.

I did remove my face shield twice to fan myself for three seconds. It being the peak of summer, we were sweating buckets in those couple of hours. My thoughts went to our healthcare professionals who are braving the second consecutive Indian summer in that PPE kit. I hope my taking the vaccine has reduced their load by at least one person.

We hope the above steps have kept us safe. Day 5 and so far, so good. Touch wood! A person sitting behind me had said out loud, “Either we’ll take the vaccine home or the virus.” I am the kind of person who focuses on the former.

So, !