Page 15 - REAL ISSUES FOR COVID-19 VACCINE IMMUNIZATION & Pregnancy, Breastfeeding Mothers

infection). So they cannot go to the vaccination centre for their second dose, and thus we
need to reschedule for them. Four of them had to get their vaccine shot in health clinic
setting, and not in mass vaccination centre because they have some form of medical problems
like uncontrolled asthma.

One vaccine recipient had moderate allergic reaction that occurred within 72 hours after the
first Pfizer vaccine dose whereby she is not eligible for the second dose because she is
allergic to Pfizer vaccine. One of them actually refused to receive the second dose because
she had immediate side effect. About 15 minutes after her first jab, she had moderate
dizziness. Another 27 of them who did not turn up for their second dose and they gave
explanation like they were outstation, got admitted in hospital, and had other active medical
problems. For those who are eligible to receive the second dose, we will reschedule their
appointment.

Out of 2035 vaccine recipients, 322 of them had some form of comorbidities. The
comorbidities reported were mainly diabetic, hypertension, asthma, heart disease, and others.
All 322 of them were successfully vaccinated. None of them had allergic reaction or
anaphylaxis. I also asked the other vaccination centres. They told me, so far, no anaphylaxis
case. Hopefully there will not be any case of anaphylaxis in Phase II and Phase III. Only one
person complained of dizziness, and she was sent to the yellow zone in the emergency
department for short observation, a few hours. Two clients experienced immediate side
effects like vomiting and dizziness within 30 minutes post vaccination.

None of the vaccine recipients infected with COVID-19 after the first dose, but three of the
health care workers were infected with COVID-19 after the second dose of vaccine. Those
who have had history of anaphylaxis, but not to the COVID-19 vaccine component like PEG
or polysorbate have successfully vaccinated in hospital setting.

Challenges and How To Overcome

Despite all the planning and trainings that we have done, we still have some challenges, and
we would also like to share how we overcome these challenges. First, some clients did not
follow the staggered appointments given, and we found it difficult to follow the new norm
SOP like physical distancing.

How to overcome this? The person in charge provided by the respective agency needs to
remind their staff to come according to the staggered appointment. However, some agencies