Before getting vaccinated, I didn’t think about the side effects too much. Maybe I would feel pain in my arm for a while, which was all I had assumed. As a result, I was suffering from not only a sore arm and fatigue but headaches and a high fever. All these symptoms appeared just after the first dose.
Ground Zero
Unlike many people around me who lost their job during the pandemic, COVID-19 didn’t directly affect my social situation. However, it is surely damaging my mental health by limiting my social exposure. I was struggling to get vaccinated as fast as I could, which I saw as the first step towards a true normal life.
I received my first does of the Moderna vaccine on June 28th. Since I didn’t consider the impact of the side effects, I just randomly set the fastest schedule I could. At night, my arm started to feel sore, but nothing particularly happened. I even had sex with my partner, though I soon regretted it after getting a fever the next day.
The Next Day
The moment I woke up I felt something was not right. My arm was sorer, but there was no issue for me to accomplish my work. Although the 29th was an office day, everyone was expected to come to the office physically. In fact, during the state of emergency, the office day rule was temporarily suspended. Due to this reason, I didn’t treat it seriously and had already forgotten about it entirely. I chose to work at home that morning.
Soon after the morning meeting, one of my senior colleagues contacted me with an unhappy face. She asked me if I had a fever, I said “I don’t think so”. Then she questioned me why I didn’t attend the office. I immediately apologized that I forgot the office day and showed my willingness to go to the office as soon as possible. She still didn’t stop and said many mean “Senpai” sayings.
One of them was “Be careful about how people see you!”. After ending the call, I stared at the screen for a little while. It was so unreal that I didn’t know how to react. I have to admit that it was me who was at fault. However, I wonder if it was necessary for her to treat me like the worst person in the world on the day that my health was not so good. I mean I am curious about how she saw me when I voluntarily worked at midnight or on weekends.
Despite the fact that there were no important meetings that day, I went to the office after lunch. Near the end of my work time, I could clearly feel that I got a fever. Although I was barely able to walk, I didn’t tell anyone about the fever for two reasons. First, that would instantly make the senior colleague who called me look bad. Moreover, since I was one of the first personnel who received the vaccine, I don’t want to make colleagues who hadn’t been vaccinated feel uncomfortable.
After going home, all I wanted to do was get some sleep. Ironically, the hardest part just began. I was one of the organizers of the next day’s big event. I had to prepare the speech and be familiar with the topics to be discussed. I never expected what I would have to do serious work with a 38˚C fever at midnight. This is insanity. I constantly fell into a subconscious-like world, like the train scene from the Evangelion series, thinking about what went wrong in my life.
Two Days Later
The fever was cooling down and my body temperature was around 37.5˚C. With the preparation I did the previous night, I joined the event with confidence. Other than talking slower than usual, I was able to manage my role and the event was a success.
Considering that the next day was again an office day, I informed my supervisor about my health condition to prevent not being able to attend the office. My supervisor allowed me to stay at home if coming into the office was not possible.
The Third Day
Most of the side effects were gone including the fever. I went to the office as usual. It was surprising that many colleagues who should have not known about my side effects asked me how I felt. It seems that my supervisor told them at some point. Guess what? The senior colleague who called me showed the most concern about my health. I think she felt sorry about what she said to me that day.
