Double vaccinated and booster jabbed

 

This morning I got my Covid booster jab at my local chemist. I had booked an appointment (as over 50) here https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/. 

The jab was on time and I did not actually feel any tenderness during the injection. No doubt there will probably be some tenderness tomorrow or other minor side effects but so far so good. Many thanks to Woodgrange Pharmacy Forest Gate for their polite and efficient service. I understand it also offers a "walk in" service for those eligible. 

Check out your local "walk in" facility here https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/find-a-walk-in-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-site/

I fully accept that I may experience side effects from this jab. I understand the concern expressed by some that the Covid vaccines were brought in comparatively very quickly compared with other vaccines and that I may still catch and suffer from Covid despite all these vaccinations. 

However, I am satisfied that the risk of any serious side effects are tiny when compared to risk of catching Covid. That there has been sufficient independent and expert research into the safety of these vaccines. 

Research has shown that by being fully vaccinated I am less likely to catch Covid, to suffer serious illness or death and to spread the disease to my friends, colleagues and loved ones. 

Check out this British Heart Foundation website advice which I thought was independent and authoritative https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/news/coronavirus-and-your-health/covid-booster-vaccine#Heading3

Vinnie Jones' hard and fast Hands-only CPR

I saw this TV advert from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) featuring Vinnie Jones a few days ago and thought it was simply great. I have been trained in first aid off and on since I was a kid.   I'm currently a designated workplace first aider.  During the actual training I come away feeling fairly confident about carrying out CPR for suspected heart attacks.  Yet as time goes on I get less and less sure, that in an emergency, I would remember the exact sequence of mouth to mouth resuscitation and chest compressions. If I feel this, you can understand why members of the public, who have never been trained, often panic and don't do nothing when they come across someone dying of a cardiac arrest. What the BHT and Vinnie "explain" is just get on and do "Hands-only CPR" in time to the music (ironically) of "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees. It can make a dramatic difference in survival rates if CPR is given promptly. Time is of the essence.

There is a serious side to this. I will declare that my father died of a heart attack in the street of a small town while he was on a long distance walk. The family know that a Police Officer did attend and tried CPR which eventually failed.  What we don't know exactly is how long it took for officer to arrive and whether if a passerby had tried "hand-only CPR" earlier there might have been a different outcome.