Post Sinovac Imbroglio (Last Part)

Previously on Post Sinovac Imbroglio (First Part)

So I was prepared to pursue the path of self-isolation if that would spare my loved ones from the virus. I was completely sold to the idea that I caught it sometime before the jab and the vaccine simply triggered the infection. The Weatherman was suggesting that I should see a doctor - his doctors - just to be sure. But I told him that in doing so, I would have to tell where we have been and the activities we did. I might put a lot of people in an inconvenient position.

Eventually, we warmed to the idea of consulting the Favorite Aunt first. She is a doctor, after all, and all the medical emergencies in the family had to go through her. So I called her on the third night and told her all about my symptoms - from the mild fever, to the red spots appearing all over my body, to the thin layer of pus already forming over the part of my skin that I scratched and scraped aggressively the past few days. She asked if I was experiencing something else. I assured her that I had no cough, nor sore throat, nor had difficulty breathing. Based on my account, she said that my Psoriasis might have been infected, so she prescribed antibiotics and antihistamines just to keep me from mutilating my skin.

She was right.

Two days later, the fever was gone and the red spots I have been seeing would ripe into purple rashes that leave a stinging sensation when the skin is triggered. The Dermatologist I consulted explained that it might be directly linked to the vaccine as there were documented cases of people experiencing the very same side effects days after taking the jab. She prescribed that I double the dose of the Levocetirizine that I was already taking.

When Sinovac was introduced in the country last summer, I was one of those who spoke strongly against getting it. I even said that why should I get the vaccine from the country where the Pandemic started. I was called out for that statement, of course. But my sibling, in her desperation, volunteered herself to be one of the first to be inoculated. So was the Favorite Aunt who took the jab ahead of everyone.

Their side effects were very minimal.

A month later, my mom received her complete dose and aside from falling out of the bed (because she was too sleepy to see where the pillows were), her side effects were inconsequential. Sure, there were doubts about the efficacy of their vaccine, but the other doctor friends on social media were insisting that the best vaccine is the one that is available.

Soon after, I was telling friends and loved ones to take Sinovac. Even the Weatherman had completed his two shots.

So when I took it months later, my faith was unshakeable. I even brought my brother-in-law and the kasambahay with me to the vaccination site so they can have their first dose too. They experienced no adverse reaction, unlike me, whose case was different. There was even a point where the Favorite Aunt and I were having second thoughts of getting the final dose as its effects on my body might be worse. On the fifth day after the first symptoms appeared, however, the rashes began to disappear. My limbs also no longer feel like it was hacked into pieces every time I had to limp all the way to the bathroom to pee. And while the body still reeled every time the nerves flare up and the stinging and itching sensation force me to run to the nearest scratch post (which is usually the corner of the wardrobe), there was no denial about my recovery. 

The end is in sight.

Barely a few days before my second week of inoculation and I was completely healed. We still do not have any explanation as to why my immune system had gone berserk upon receiving the inactivated virus (it was my first time to experience such adverse side effects from a vaccine) but the Favorite Aunt was confident that Sinovac was effective. Even the doctors she had to consult herself said the bodily reaction was within the threshold that I was allowed to take the second dose...

...a decision that has now become a life or death matter given the arrival of a much more potent variant from India.

Three days from today, I am set to receive the last dose of the China-made vaccine. Though the side effects are still unknown, I am somehow relieved that I have learned enough not to panic like what had happened during my first ordeal.