superpowers complete!

I got my annual NHS flu jab about three weeks ago, but am not eligible for an NHS Covid jab this year.  So I decided to pay for one.  £98.95.  Ouch!  That hurts more than the needle!

Having booked online at a pharmacy (since my GP doesn't offer them privately), I went to get the jab today.  So, I am now invulnerable again.  Well, not for 7 days, for it to take effect.  And then, of course, not 100% guaranteed.  But still, waaaay better than the alternative.

too young!

I got my annual flu jab today, but no Covid jab, as I'm apparently now too young.  I would need to be over 75 to get one on the NHS this year.  

I've had Covid, and don't want to have it again, so I'll need to book an appointment, and pay for one myself.  At least that means only one sore arm at a time.

Covid-19 diary: booster 2023

I had my Covid autumn booster and my flu jab today.  My GP surgery is no longer doing the jabs, so I had to drive to a pharmacy in the next town to get it.  I had booked the Covid jab via the NHS website, and when I arrived at the pharmacy for it, they asked if I wanted a flu jab as well.  Yes please!

As before, Covid jab in left arm, flu in right.

Superpowers, engage!

Covid-19 diary: booster 2!

I got my (now annual?) booster jab today, along with a flu jab.  It was the now familiar efficient conveyor belt approach, with stations providing stickers and checking names, socially distanced queueing, and medical history questioning.  This included: “have you had Covid?”, “Yes, over four weeks ago”, which is long enough to be okay.  In fact, I booked this slot for my jab while I had Covid, as this was when I was contacted to come in.  If only I had been contacted a little earlier!  (Still, at least I now know Covid affects well-vaccinated me like a cold, and not worse.  Well, the current variant does, at least.)

I had the Pfizer jab in my left arm, and the flu jab in my right arm.  I again got a “young person’s flu jab” – because I'm still under 65.  Apparently the over-65 flu jab is higher dose, which may be why my other half had a reaction last year and I didn't.

oh well

 Inevitable sooner or later, I suppose:

Covid-19 diary: the day after the booster vaccination

Thankfully I’ve got only mild side effects from my booster jab: some soreness and redness around the injection site.  Oh, and a very visible, but not painful, mark at the flu injection site.

My other half, unfortunately, has the chills, tiredness, and “feeling unwell”, in addition to the sore arm.  Still better than the alternative, though.

Covid-19 diary: boosted!

I got my booster jab today, along with a flu jab.  It was again an efficient conveyor belt approach, with stations providing stickers and checking names, socially distanced queueing, and medical history questioning.

I had the Pfizer jab this time, in my left arm, and the flu jab in my right arm.  I was delighted to learn I was getting a “young person’s flu jab” – because I'm under 65.  I don’t know if this means it was a different jab, or just recorded differently; I suspect the latter.

The Pfizer leaflet had some interesting information about side effects.  Apparently very common side effects of the Pfizer jab (may affect more than 1 in 10) include headache, joint pain, and diarrhoea, common side effects (may affect up to 1 in 10) include nausea and vomiting, whereas uncommon side effects (may affect up to 1 in 100) include “feeling unwell”.  I am pleased to discover that if I get headache, joint pain, diarrhoea, nausea or vomiting, at least I won’t “feel unwell”.

Covid-19 diary: the day after the second vaccination

 Unlike with the first jab, I’ve had no discernable side effects from the second one.  Yay!

Covid-19 diary: vaccination 2

This time it was raining heavily, so instead of walking I drove to the doctor’s surgery (about 5 minutes), put on my mask, was shepherded through a modified but still efficient conveyor system (sticky label with QR codes given to me on entry, scanned along the conveyor route, and taken from me on vaccination), answered a lot fewer questions, still in the negative, had a needle stuck in my right arm, which I did not feel, was asked for my email address so they could send me the leaflet, was given an updated vaccination record card, then left the centre, got in the car, took off my mask, waited the requested 15 minutes, then drove home.

Again, in total, I was out of the house for less than 40 minutes!

two total eclipses

I’ve posted before about the Dr Who resonances the song Total Eclipse of the Heart has for me.  It seems to be a favourite for mashups in many genres.  Today I come across two new examples -- each excellent in their own very different ways.

First, The Marsh family do their own Covid-inspired rendition of “Totally Fixed Where We Are”: brilliant lyrics, smashing singing, and inspired interpretive dance.  Clearly a very talented family:

Then there’s this Star Trek inspired one, which is ... different.  Now, I know that the term “slash” as in “slash fiction” comes from “Kirk/Spock” fanfic (say it out loud).  But I didn’t know “Spirk” was a synonym for the latter.  Until I saw the hysterically funny “Total Eclipse of Spirk”, complete with musical accompiament by The Squire of Gothos.

As well as the Squire scenes, I also recognised a clip from Amok Time.  The others are a bit more generic, but, frankly, I don’t remember Spock emoting quite that much! 

Covid-19 diary: car use

I took my car in for its annual MOT and service today.  It has been just the year since the last test and service, but what a year!

I normally drive about 10,000 miles annually.  Over the last year, service to service, it was 827 miles.  (Also, no bus or train travel, and no flying, in that time, either.)

I have saved quite a bit on fuel.  I normally fill up fortnightly.  But I filled up just after last year’s service in March, then again in September, and still have half a tank left…

Covid-19 diary: the day after the vaccination

Mild side effects from the jab. I woke up with a sore arm and shivering in the middle of the night. I pulled on an extra blanket to keep warm.

When I got up this morning, the shivering had stopped, but I felt weak and wobbly, with a bit of a headache.  I dozed part of the morning.

By this evening, all back to normal.

Covid-19 diary: vaccination 1

So I walked to the doctor’s surgery (about 15 minutes), put on my mask, was shepherded through an efficient conveyor belt system (name tag / bar code sticker stuck to me on entry, then removed on vaccination), answered a lot of questions in the negative (carefully refrained from being over-pedantic in my answers), had a needle stuck in my right arm, which I felt, but I wouldn’t exactly say hurt, was given a leaflet  (which says “read all of this leaflet carefully before the vaccine is given”), was given a vaccination record card and firmly told not to lose it, then left the centre, took off my mask, and walked home.  

In total, I was out of the house for less than 40 minutes!

Covid-19 diary: phone call

Just before 4pm today I got a phone call from my GP’s office, inviting me to book a vaccination.  I now have an appointment for Saturday to get an AstraZenica jab.

I have been told by a friend that essentially everyone who has the AZ jab gets flu-like symptoms.  My other half got his jab two weeks ago, spent the next day huddled miserably in a blanket, but was fine after that.  I’ll soon find out if I react the same way.

Beats the alternative, though!

Having spent a year quite happily working from home, and not having been ill with any colds caught off colleagues and students, I thought I was inured to lockdowns and whatnot.  So I am somewhat surprised at just how relieved I feel to have this appointment.

Covid-19 diary: a year since...

 ... my last view from a hotel window.

Covid-19 diary: puns galore

We should all remember the name of the first person to get a Covid vaccination (except those in clinical trials): it was 90-year old Margaret Keenan.

We all will remember the name of the second person: it was 81-year old William Shakespeare.

And this, of course, led to so many puns.  My favourite has to be:

So, if Ms Keenan was patient 1A, was Mr Shakespeare “Patient 2B or not 2B”?

 

Covid-19 diary: learning lessons from history

“Black Death, COVID, and Why We Keep Telling the Myth of a Renaissance Golden Age and Bad Middle Ages” is a brilliant essay by Renaissance scholar and all round Renaissance woman Ada Palmer, on why the question “If the Black Death caused the Renaissance, will COVID also create a golden age?” is based on multiple misconceptions about history in general, and the Renaissance in particular.  However, there are things we can learn from history about how to tackle the Covid-19 aftermath, but will we?

The post is marvelous in general.  But in particular, the concept of “Ever-So-Much-More-So” really struck a chord with me.  As Palmer says, sprinkle some Ever-So-Much-More-So powder on the Middle Ages and you get the Renaissance: much more of the good bits, and much more of the bad bits.  

And this just keeps on: the good things keep getting more and better, but the bad things keep getting more and worse.  This is different from utopias (only the good things increase) or dystopias (only the bad increases): in the real future, everything gets Ever-So-Much-More-So.  The optimists notice only the more good; the pessimists only the more bad.  The reality is everything gets more complicated, more complex, more more.  Ever-So-Much-More-So.

Covid-19 diary: seeing clearly

The window cleaners came today for the first time since lockdown.

We can see clearly now the spider webs are gone.

before window cleaning -- webby windows

after window cleaning -- clear and sunny

Covid-19 diary: eye tests

The Independent states:

Dominic Cummings has said that he drove to Barnard Castle with his wife and child at the end of his lockdown-busting trip to County Durham in order to test his eyesight before making the long drive home to London.

If the Indepedent’s report is accurate (and I have no reason to believe otherwise; there is plenty of other evidence), then here are only two possibilities: 

1. Cummings is lying about his reason for his actions
2. Cummings is telling the truth about his reasons for his actions

If he is lying, then he should be sacked for this lie.

If he is telling the truth, then he should be sacked for being too stupid to be a government advisor.

Additionally, if he is telling the truth, and he is happy to risk his wife and child’s life in such a manner, then it rather calls into question his original excuse for travelling north: worry for his child’s well being.

 

Covid-19 diary: VE day

Today we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Europe from a brutal fascist dictatorship, and acknowledge the sacrifices our parents and grandparents made during the time.

The rise of the Nazis is an important lesson of history.  It didn’t happen overnight; it was a gradual process.  Not everyone subscribed to the ideology, but as its grip strengthened, it became increasingly difficult, and dangerous, to resist.

The lesson is that we should watch out for similar processes happening today, and nip them in the bud.  There are currently distressing parallels of the rise of nationalism and fascism around the world, from nationalistic groups arising in European and other countries, including the nationalistic underpinnings of Brexit, to the nibbling away of the rule of law, of checks and balances, in other countries.

Crises can tend to amplify nationalism, as people pull together locally, but apart globally.  And necessary measures put in place during crises can be difficult to remove after the crisis has passed (is it really over? better be safe than sorry!)

VE day reminds us of the utter horrors of fascism.

Don’t let Covid-19 help them return through the back door.