I had my first shot on Thursday, but thought I'd wait a couple of days before posting this. I've had fairly mild side effects. I'm not sure whether it's the vaccine, or me feeling a little tired at the weekend, which is often the case. I was up a little late on Friday, so came into work about 15 minutes late and I slept in a couple of hours today.
Anyway, I'll start at the beginning. On Wednesday I heard the under 40s will be offered the vaccine on Thursday morning, so I tried to book, both by phone and on the Internet, as soon as I got into work that morning. Unfortunately they wanted me to travel 12 miles, when there's a vaccination centre within easy walking distance from where I work. The phone call was frustrating. The operator had a heavy Indian accent. I asked why I couldn't get it done locally he said it was because the nearest centre was fully booked, which was a lie. Someone at work sent an email to all staff, telling them the local centre was doing a walk in service, but for over 40s only. I put down the phone and thought I'd try my luck with the local centre, even though I'm under 40. Fortunately they had no problem with giving the shot. They explained to me it's the AstraZeneca, yet under 40s are recommended to get the Pfizer, but they'd do it anyway. I think the online/phone in service only offered me centres which did the Pfizer, but it would have been good to get the choice.
The media have overplayed the risks of the AstraZeneca and underplayed those of the Pfizer jab, which is motivated by money. AstraZeneca aren't making a profit on the vaccine and have actually lost money on it, where as Pfizer have turned a healthy profit. Governments have been lobbied to avoid the cheapest and give out the most expensive vaccines. The Pfizer isn't 100% safe either. There have been reports of myocarditis, where it's been exclusively rolled out in Israel. Of course I would have had no problem with getting the Pfizer, but I'd rather not travel when it's not necessary.