My COVID vaccine experience: A reporter's diary of getting vaccinated with Oxford AstraZeneca

Alao Abiodun, a news reporter with Nation Newspaper based out of Nigeria took his COVID
vaccine jab recently. He has shared his COVID-19 vaccine story to increase public awareness.
Arriving the C.M.S Primary Health Centre, Bariga, Lagos around 9:30am last week Friday, the
atmosphere was calm, orderly and serene.

"Only health workers, security agencies, the press, strategic leaders and other frontline workers are
eligible to take part in the first phase of the ongoing vaccine rollout," announced the courteous
healthcare matron.
At the point of entry, I had to identify myself upon questioning by the security guard. After prompt
introduction, I walked in, and took a seat confidently knowing fully well I was qualified.

The seats were arranged strategically at the healthcare centre for people to sit calmly and wait for
their turn. The vaccination site was an open-air space. Elderly persons — 70+ and above — retired
health workers, some others adorning their nose masks, were seated taking turns to go through the
registration and capturing process.

While I picked a seat, I developed a sudden feeling of fear, I guess it was just a vaccine fright because
I was about to get the first dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine which has generated
series of controversies in some countries over its safety and efficacy in the past few weeks.

But my fears got doused when I saw elderly persons ahead of me getting vaccinated, and feeling
rejuvenated afterwards at the centre. Also, my conversation with some persons at the site,
especially about those who've been vaccinated, rekindled calmness, I mustered to myself that there
is the need for a deal of more work that must be done to rebuild trust in the vaccine.

The first port of call was to get registered in the vaccine registration booklet with resemblance of
NYSC book of life. Answering a couple of questions, all necessary details were rightly documented in
the manual registration process before proceeding for the e-capturing process. Prior to this, I had
initially registered through a portal created for self-registration but it appears to be invalid upon
getting to the site.

After the capturing process which involves responding to questions such as personal details, photo
capturing and scanning of the vaccine card issued by the health worker, the next port of call was to
receive the vaccine. While the process was a seamless exercise that can be concluded in a jiffy, there
were hitches at some point. The e-capturing tool experienced server problems.

After about six hours of waiting, in-between, security agencies were prioritised for quick attention —
the person administering it asked if I had any relevant or known allergies before taking the vaccine.
At about 2:15pm, I received the vaccine.

I was with the nurse for under 2 minutes, the nurse checked my vaccine card, swabbed my left arm,
told me that afterward I needed to wait 10 minutes before leaving the arena, asked if I had any other
questions, and gave me the injection.

Once you get the shot, you’ll be given a card that has the date you received the first shot, the
scheduled date for the second shot, and the type of vaccine that you received — Oxford AstraZeneca
COVID-19 vaccine on it.

Once 10 minutes passed, she asked how I was feeling, and I told her I was great, so she said I was
free to go.

Receiving the COVID-19 vaccine was a tremendous sense of relief especially amid the different
speculations. I maintained calmness and tried to study my body's response to the jab throughout the
rest of the day.

I felt fine for the rest of the afternoon while I carried out my other activities of the day. Later in the
evening, I felt this sudden dizziness. Advisedly, one is expected to take paracetamol to douse any
form of pain.

I also had a light feeling of discomfort including headache, and pains from the arm where the shot
was received; afterwards I was relieved of the headache when I woke up Saturday morning but the
pain from the injection made my left arm feel heavy. I did not experience any adverse reaction(s).

Getting vaccinated is the only reasonable measure of defense against this raging virus that upended
nearly every facet of our lives -- and that of the rest of the world

However, while I noticed there was a deficiency in terms of 'counseling' those to be vaccinated
before the process, I strongly think there should also be provision for those who are hearing-
impaired at the centres.

At this point, there is a need to tell more COVID-19 vaccination stories as it could be a more
powerful way of convincing some people to take the vaccine than just stating the facts.

I look forward to getting my second shot in June!

Volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic: What are the

potential benefits to people’s well-being?
VERDICT
There is weak evidence linking volunteering to positive well-being. In order to benefit, people may
need to feel that what they do is likely to make a difference and that it is valued. This idea of
‘mattering’ highlights the fact that although not an explicit reason for volunteering, reciprocity may
be important for someone to continue undertaking such work and to gain psychologically from it.
Given the many challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, a show of solidarity exhibited
through volunteering is heartening. Within 24 hours of a governmental call for citizens to join the
NHS ‘volunteer army’, 500,000 people had signed up. By early April, over 750,000 were enlisted
and started undertaking tasks such as delivering medication from pharmacies, driving patients to
appointments, or making regular phone calls to isolated individuals. Healthcare professionals,
pharmacists, and local authority staff can upload requests for help from these volunteers on a
dedicated app. Outside the NHS, many other volunteering endeavours have been established in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this blog, we explore why people might be drawn to
volunteer at this time, what they might gain from doing so, and what lessons the NHS can learn in
harnessing public enthusiasm to offer assistance.

WHY MIGHT PEOPLE BE PROMPTED TO VOLUNTEER DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC?

A quick examination of media reports on reasons for volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic
highlights that some people want ‘to give back’, having received support from the NHS for a
previous illness; that it can help individuals feel they are doing something at a time of crisis; or
that it enables them to cope with sad accounts they hear every day in the media. These news
stories show that people offer to volunteer in anticipation that they might need help in the future,
if they get the virus. A sense of solidarity can also be established through joining others in working
towards a common purpose.

In the current crisis, volunteering may be comforting, helping people to overcome feelings of
inertia and helplessness (as they are separated from loved ones and witness reports on the
damage to familiar infrastructures – healthcare, government, food supplies). A review of 33
articles on volunteering during emergencies, exploring motives, suggested that being connected
with a cause can be a key driver, alongside regarding it as emotionally cathartic when affected
personally, and finding solace from collaborating with others towards the same goal.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE HEALTH BENEFITS VOLUNTEERING BRINGS?

Volunteers may claim that they get as much back from their efforts as individuals or organisations
they are supporting. Evidence shows that volunteering can alter self-perceptions, allowing people
to build confidence and self-esteem and to learn new skills. This may help to counteract low
mood, by producing more positive thinking. It has also been suggested that volunteering can
affirm one’s social identity, important when other roles have diminished (e.g. after retirement,
losing a partner, children growing up).

Volunteering may promote well-being, in particular among those with few social connections. By
extending their networks through volunteering, people can feel part of a community that
increases their social capital (e.g. resources or contacts they can turn to for assistance).
Establishing social ties generates trust, prompting people to feel more secure. However, the
reverse may also be true: that social ties facilitate volunteering, so those with existing, well-
developed social networks might be more exposed to and hear about volunteering opportunities.
Those from deprived or disadvantaged backgrounds are reported to volunteer less often. Hence,
benefits from volunteering are unlikely to be uniform. For example, volunteering appears to
increase life satisfaction in older people (aged over 60 years) more than in younger ones. Data
from the British Household Panel Survey, taking a life course approach, suggested that a positive
impact from volunteering is more pronounced during midlife and older age. Its authors proposed
that at an earlier stage in life, people view volunteering as something to fit in alongside other
commitments (e.g. studying or parenting). However, there are reports of volunteering helping
teenagers to feel more socially connected, and it may reduce their anxiety, if freely chosen and
not mandated.

Younger people are more likely to engage in irregular volunteering. There is evidence of dose-
responsiveness: more volunteering is linked to greater rewards – although not all researchers
report this association. It is unclear what the optimum dose is for ensuring benefits from
volunteering. Some research shows the greatest improvement in psychological well-being among
those engaging in at least 100 hours of volunteer activity per year. Other studies report that
benefits taper off or do not increase after more than 100 hours a year (2-3 hours a week). Data
from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations show that around a fifth of people in the UK
volunteers at least once a month for a group, club, or organisation.

‘MATTERING’

Piliavin and Siegl distinguish between hedonic well-being (happiness and satisfaction from feeling
good about one’s situation, which may come from different areas of life, including socialising with
friends and hobbies) and eudaimonic well-being (feeling good about oneself, through serving
others for example). There may be a range of activities that make one feel good, but volunteering
allows one to feel ‘good about oneself.’ This relates to the notion of ‘mattering’, a term used to
depict feeling valued and able to add value. ‘Mattering’ refers to a perception that we have a role
in the world, whereby we feel noticed and valued, and are giving value to others. It has been
linked to better self-esteem, self-acceptance, and less depression.

STATE OF THE EVIDENCE

Although there is evidence that volunteering can benefit emotional health, sense of self, and
satisfaction with life, studies of such associations often derive from cross-sectional rather than
prospective cohort or controlled studies; hence, it may be that those with better physical and
psychological health, or social well-being, opt to volunteer. Longitudinal studies have suggested a
potentially causal relation between health and volunteering, but without data involving more
controls it is hard to be sure whether other factors are involved. Furthermore, such benefits are
not necessarily reflected in the results of trials.

Another problem in researching this topic is that what constitutes volunteering is wide-ranging,
making comparisons across studies difficult; it covers a plethora of heterogeneous activities, so it
is probably misleading to treat all volunteering as the same when considering its consequences for
individual health. This would extend to what outcomes are assessed; outcomes should be
commensurable with the volunteering activity (e.g. not expecting better physical fitness from a
volunteer programme that involves reading to children in school).

WHAT CAN THE NHS LEARN ABOUT VOLUNTEERING FROM THE CURRENT CRISIS?

Volunteering in the NHS is not unusual. Volunteers free up time so that paid staff can focus on
clinical tasks, while helping local communities to stay fit and well. The NHS long-term plan
included an aim to double the number of volunteers across the organisation, partly related to its
commitment to social prescribing. As health managers and policy makers try to create an NHS
participation culture, they should ensure that volunteers experience a sense of being appreciated
and that they can play a useful role; as noted above, this can augment volunteers’ well-being.
Conversely, a negative experience can make people believe they are unappreciated. This may
happen when volunteers are not supported, which might leave them feeling overwhelmed.

A clear understanding about how volunteers may contribute to statutory services and what they
can and cannot do is needed, to avoid role ambiguity. Research suggests that some NHS staff are
suspicious of volunteers in their workplace and concerned about job substitution. It is therefore
essential to distinguish between paid roles and the contributions of volunteers. Last year health
unions published a charter, in part to mitigate fears about the use of volunteers as a cheap
alternative to paid, trained staff, and to reassure healthcare workers that volunteers were not
being introduced simply in response to a shortfall in staff numbers.

Profiting from the skills, time, and enthusiasm of volunteers who are supporting the NHS in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic might call for a cultural shift. The whole organisation must
acknowledge the contribution of these individuals, to avoid cynicism and demotivation. As noted
by Boyle and colleagues, “…this will take a shift in mindset, particularly in the NHS, which can
appear ambivalent and difficult to access, and at its worst, dismissive.” There may also need to be
a transformation from perceiving volunteers as free labour, willing to accept whatever tasks they
are assigned, without much direction or encouragement; it is likely that volunteers, even if
subconsciously, will be seeking some benefits (e.g. feeling they are making a difference, meeting
people, or developing new skills). Thus, those running volunteering opportunities may need to
invest time in developing relationships and providing support and training. Volunteering should
not be regarded as a no-cost activity; it requires an appropriate infrastructure to be successful, so
that volunteers are well managed.

CONCLUSION

A potential way to boost well-being in a time of crisis may be to increase people’s sense of
‘mattering’, through volunteering. This may bring particular benefits to older members of the
population, enabling them to establish a strong social role and ties. But since they are at particular
risk of negative effects from contracting COVID-19, volunteering may be curtailed at present by
advice to avoid social contacts.
The impressive public response during the COVID-19 pandemic shows that there is a sizable,
potentially untapped, set of individuals for the NHS to draw upon, although the recently recruited
‘volunteer army’ is supporting rather than working within the organisation per se (e.g.
transporting medical equipment, delivering medications to people, driving patients to
appointments, making telephone calls to those who are isolated at home). It may be important to
capitalise on the current national enthusiasm for volunteering, as the country has to deal with the
social and economic aftermath of COVID-19.