新冠疫苗 Vaccination China Style

Nicholas Quirke was not looking forward to having a needle stuck in him on 22 April 2021 when he was going to Xicheng hospital to have his first Covid19 immunisation. He had endured many injections throughout his life and had probably never really suffered any pain as a direct result of the jab breaking his skin but the thought of it happening gave him chills every time and this was no different. It was being organised by the community and as he was a laowai in the Xicheng district it had to be done at the main hospital there. This was quite a trip and the officer dealing with him asked Peng if he would go along too. The hospital was in an area he never been to and even though it was raining as they left the subway station the walk along the river bank delighted him. He was meant to be there for 9.30am but the station they were due to get off at was closed and they had to go on to the next station and walk back which, delayed them and he had to hurry past the sights he wanted to film. At the hospital he had to register at the gate to get in and once inside they met the community officer who escorted them to the vaccination centre. There were a few other foreigners there who were all subjected to the same routine of form filling. Peng was summonsed by the doctors as ‘Interpreter’ and responded to the commands with grace. He completed the forms in English and Chinese and then he was registered at the centre and his details put on file. when this was completed he needed to pay. He started with a digital payment on WeChat, which failed, he then tried AliPay which also failed. Peng tried and his method did not work either and in the end he handed over cash. The next stop was the doctor and the inoculation. He was uneasy and not looking forward to it at all and he felt quite like a child as he ‘put a brave face on’ and endured the moment which was barely noticeable and completely fleeting. He was now in the system and in 21 days he would be summonsed form his 2nd dose. He was told to expect headaches, coughs, and localised pain in his arm as side effects and was warned not to shower. He felt quite elated and that he had achieved something and they walked back along the same route to capture the beautiful scenes along the river bank. He did feel terribly fatigued as a result of the injection and moped around the apartment till it was time for him to go and teach. Harry was sick and left him to handle the usually difficult Willis on his own but without a friend to show off in front off they had a really good lesson and he was happy to commend the work that Willis did. When he got back to the apartment he felt really fatigued and had a shower then remembered that he should not have exposed his jab to water. Remorseful and wondering what the consequences of his actions might have on the effectiveness of his shot he had a massage in the chair and went to sleep.

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