My Covid-19 vaccination

The first batch of Covid-19 vaccines arrived in Malaysia on 21 February 2021. Soon afterwards, the Malaysian government opened the registration for Covid-19 vaccination to the public. I registered through MySejahtera on 23 February 2021. In the following months, I was waiting for a vaccination appointment. At that time, I was working as a Teaching Fellow at NUMed in Johor Bahru.

In April 2021, following reports of rare thromboembolic events caused by the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, the Malaysian government decided to offer it only on an opt-in basis. Data shows that thromboembolic events occur in around 1 out of 100,000 cases. I consider that to be a very low risk and I decided that I would take the AstraZeneca vaccine if given the opportunity.

The 1st round of opt-in registration for the AstraZeneca vaccine was open on 2 May 2021 for those living in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. I couldn't register as I was in Johor Bahru. Subsequently on 26 May 2021, the 2nd round of the opt-in registration was open to those staying in Johor, Penang and Sarawak in addition to Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. I surely wanted to take that opportunity to register.

The registration was supposed to open at 12 noon, but it got delayed until 12:15PM. Then, there were major issues with the registration website due to a large number of people wanting to register. I was able to key in my personal information, but I couldn't select the state no matter how many times I clicked on it. I refreshed the page a countless number of times and I tried using my laptop, tablet and phone, but the same issue persisted.

There were a few times where I managed to select the state, but when I proceed to selecting a vaccination centre and date, a message appeared stating that the slot was full, even though it was still available in reality. I tried registering for about an hour, without success. After that, the website announced that the opt-in registration had closed as all slots had been taken up. I felt quite upset and disappointed.

However on 29 May 2021, I received an SMS which stated that my registration for the AstraZeneca vaccine was being processed. On the next day, I got my 1st dose appointment through MySejahtera, which would be at Persada Johor Bahru International Convention Centre on 22 July. While I was glad to get the appointment, the issue was that my Teaching Fellow job would end on 30 June and I would be returning to my hometown after that.

After giving some thoughts, I decided to stay in Johor Bahru until the end of July so that I could receive the 1st dose of the vaccine. I didn't want to decline the appointment as that would lead to further delays in getting the 1st dose. However, I wouldn't be in Johor Bahru for the 2nd dose. As the interval between doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine is 9 weeks, it wouldn't be feasible for me to continue staying in Johor Bahru till then.

On 22 July 2021, I received my 1st dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at Persada Johor Bahru as planned. I arrived a bit late as the main road leading to Persada Johor Bahru was closed which required me to take a detour, but that wasn't an issue. The process was quite smooth and well organised, although I had to wait for a while as there were a lot of people. As a matter of fact, I had been to Persada Johor Bahru in July 2019 to attend the NUMed Congregation.

In the morning on 23 July 2021, I started feeling quite lethargic which likely was an adverse effect of the vaccine. I didn't experience any other side effects. On that night, I was feeling a bit better and I could watch the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics online. By 24 July 2021, I had recovered from the lethargy.

I soon received my 2nd dose appointment which would be at Persada Johor Bahru on 23 September. Based on my plans at that time, I would be in Kulim in late September so it would be quite troublesome for me to travel to Johor Bahru. Therefore, I declined the 2nd dose appointment and changed my address on MySejahtera to Kulim, in hopes of getting an appointment in Kulim.

I returned to Subang Jaya on 1 August 2021. On 4 August 2021, I unexpectedly got the news that the start date of my housemanship would be brought forward from October to late August. I decided to do my housemanship at Kluang hospital. Once again, I had to change my address on MySejahtera to Kluang. However, I never got another 2nd dose appointment on MySejahtera.

During the orientation for housemanship, I was told that house officers who hadn't completed their Covid-19 vaccination could get the vaccine at Kluang hospital. However, the AstraZeneca vaccine isn't available in Kluang and the only vaccination centre in Johor with the AstraZeneca vaccine is Persada Johor Bahru. I regretted declining the 2nd dose appointment at Persada Johor Bahru, but I couldn't reinstate it. Consequently, my 2nd dose of vaccine was in limbo.

I contacted MySejahtera helpdesk and the Johor state health department to seek help regarding the issue, and they both told me that I could just walk in to Persada Johor Bahru for my 2nd dose of AstraZeneca vaccine on my original appointment date. Despite that, I was still a little worried as I didn't have an active appointment on MySejahtera. 

On 23 September 2021, I went to Persada Johor Bahru to get my 2nd dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. Johor Bahru is about 1 hour and 20 minutes drive from Kluang. As it turned out, the staffs at Persada Johor Bahru are very helpful and friendly. They allowed me to walk in after I explained my situation, and the process completed smoothly. I was happy to go back to Johor Bahru, as I had the opportunity to taste some of the food there which I miss so much.

With that, I have finally completed 2 doses of Covid-19 vaccination, 7 months after I first registered for it. On the following day, I once again felt quite lethargic. The lethargy lasted until 25 September 2021, requiring me to take 2 days of sick leave. Still, that was a relatively minor adverse effect which is totally worth it considering the protection against Covid-19 given by the AstraZeneca vaccine.

In late 2021, the Omicron variant of Covid-19 emerged. Its symptoms are significantly less severe, but it spreads significantly faster. 2 doses of Covid-19 vaccine is no longer sufficient to protect against it, a booster dose is needed. The Malaysian government started offering booster doses of Covid-19 vaccination to the public. Initially, the booster dose was given at 6 months after the 2nd dose, which meant that I would be getting my booster dose in March 2022.

Later, the policy was changed such that the booster dose can be given at least 3 months after the 2nd dose. Many vaccination centres in Malaysia were also allowing walk-ins for the booster dose. Despite that, I wanted to wait until March 2022 before getting my booster dose, as I had read that the efficacy of the booster dose is greatest if given at 6 months after the 2nd dose.

In late January, the number of new Covid-19 cases daily in Malaysia was increasing very rapidly due to the spread of the Omicron variant. Therefore, I considered getting my booster dose earlier. After some reading on the internet, I concluded that getting the booster dose at 3 to 6 months after the 2nd dose will not significantly decrease its effectiveness. I decided to get my booster dose as soon as possible.

At that time, Kluang hospital asked all staff members who would like to receive the booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine to fill up a registration form, and I promptly did so. On 7 February 2022, I received my booster dose at Kluang hospital. This time, I was given the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. Once again, I experienced lethargy after getting the vaccine, which required me to take 1 day of sick leave.

In June 2022, Kluang hospital opened the registration for the 2nd booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine to all staff members. I promptly submitted the registration. The 2nd booster dose was to be given at least 6 months after the 1st booster dose, which meant that I would be getting it after 7 August 2022. However on 2 August 2022, I unexpectedly got called for my 2nd booster dose.

As it was just a few days short of 6 months after my 1st booster dose, the effectiveness will not be significantly affected. Therefore, I went ahead with receiving my 2nd booster dose on that day. Once again, I got the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. After the vaccination, I experienced lethargy which was worse compared to the last 2 doses, so I had to take 1 day of sick leave.

I am glad to have completed 4 doses of Covid-19 vaccination. The AstraZeneca + AstraZeneca + Pfizer + Pfizer combination provides good protection against Covid-19, including the Omicron variant. While the number of new Covid-19 cases daily in Malaysia is still high, vaccinations have greatly reduced the severity of Covid-19 infections and allowed us to return to our normal lives just like before the Covid-19 pandemic. I hope everyone will receive their booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine as soon as possible.

My 2021 summer break

In 2021, I have 4 weeks of summer break between 2 August 2021 and 28 August 2021, after the end of my Teaching Fellowship at Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (NUMed). Here, I am going to write about the summer break.

My summer break is shorter this year compared to the previous year. This is also the last long break in my life.

On 1 August 2021, I moved out of EcoNest, the condominium I rented and lived in throughout my Teaching Fellowship at NUMed. My parents came to EcoNest to pick me up and bring me back to Subang Jaya. Malaysia had been under the Full Movement Control Order (MCO) since 1 June 2021 due to the worsening Covid-19 situation. Under the Full MCO, interstate travel wasn't allowed unless with special permit from the police. My parents managed to get the permit. That was my first time meeting my parents after so many months.

At that time, I had made the decision to do my House Officer training at Kluang hospital. Kluang hospital is one of the hospitals recognised by the UK General Medical Council (GMC) for the purpose of gaining GMC Full Registration under NUMed's ARCP programme, and it has a relatively less stressful work environment compared to other hospitals. It was very difficult get a permanent Medical Officer post in Malaysia due to the limited places and high competition, while contract Medical Officers were ineligible to do specialty training in Malaysia. That made GMC Full Registration really important, as it would give me the option of doing specialty training in UK in case I failed to get a permanent Medical Officer post after completing House Officer training. I planned to have my grandparents stay with me in Kluang during my House Officer training so that I could look after them.

On that day, I told my parents for the first time about my plan regarding House Officer training and explained my rationale for that. However, my parents weren't supportive of my decision, as their felt that the long distance of Kluang from Kulim would make it logistically difficult to get my grandparents moved to Kluang; they also kept downplaying the seriousness of the situation regarding permanent Medical Officer posts and specialty training in Malaysia and the importance of getting GMC Full Registration. My parents then changed the topic. They criticised me for failing to clean my unit at EcoNest before moving out, which meant that the owner would likely charge a cleaning fee.

I replied to my parents that it wasn't worth my efforts to clean the EcoNest unit and I had agreed to pay the cleaning fee to the owner, so there's no need to talk about that any further, instead we should focus on the plan to get my grandparents moved to Kluang. However, my parents continued to criticise me for not cleaning the EcoNest unit while dismissing my plans to do House Officer training in Kluang. It was infuriating that instead of focussing on my future plans which was obviously the most important matter, my parents fixated on the cleaning fee which was so inconsequential. Furious, I told my parents loudly and firmly that my decision was final and I would go ahead with it regardless of whether they approve it or not, and I shut down the conversation about the cleaning fee. Reluctantly, my parents backed down.

Later in the afternoon, we arrived our house in Subang Jaya. I hadn't been home for 210 days since 3 January 2021. I couldn't go home during the Chinese New Year in February 2021 due to the MCO. That was even longer than the previous year, where I was away from home for 198 days from 27 January 2020 to 12 August 2020, also because of the MCO. On that evening, I had Lim Fried Chicken for dinner. It's my most favourite fried chicken in Subang Jaya and it had been several years since I last had it.

On 2 August 2021, NUMed disabled my staff email and IT account, following the end of my Teaching Fellowship. Despite my earlier request for an extension, it wasn't granted. On 3 August 2021, I had chicken varuval for lunch. On that evening, I had my favourite British fish and chips from Cor Blimey for dinner. I really liked it for its authentic British style. Due to the Full MCO, I couldn't dine in at any restaurants, nor I could travel anywhere 10km further away from my house in Subang Jaya. I had to order every meal through take away or delivery. Being quite bored at home, I spent my free time watching the 2020 Summer Olympics and playing the game Plants vs Zombies on my iPad.

I had chosen to defer the start of my House Officer training for 6 months during the previous intake in March 2021, as I wanted to complete my Teaching Fellowship at NUMed first. Therefore, I had expected that my House Officer training intake would be in September 2021. However on 4 August 2021, I was unexpectedly told that the House Officer training intake had been brought forward and I had to do the hospital selection for my House Officer training on the next day. I had missed the email as it got marked as spam, but thankfully my friend alerted me to that. I wasn't ready to start House Officer training so soon, but as I had already deferred once, I didn't have the option to defer once more.

At 12 noon on 5 August 2021, I did the hospital selection for House Officer training through the e-Housemen website. I firmly decided to choose Kluang hospital. I previously thought of doing the hospital selection at an internet cafe with high-speed internet connection to maximise my chances of choosing my preferred hospital, but that wasn't possible at that time as internet cafes were closed due to the MCO. I had no choice but to do it at home, hoping that the WiFi connection would be fast and stable enough. Due to a large number of users, the e-Housemen website lagged for a few moments. I nearly got a panic attack when I saw that Kluang hospital only had 5 vacancies. Thankfully, I managed to choose Kluang hospital successfully. Right after that, I applied for Provisional Registration with the UK GMC, which is required for NUMed's ARCP programme that leads to GMC Full Registration. On that afternoon, I ordered stuffed chicken breast with bacon from Uncle Don's for lunch. In the evening, I had mala noodles for dinner.

On 6 August 2021, I was granted my GMC Provisional Registration. On that afternoon, I bought chicken maryland from Victoria Station in USJ Taipan for my lunch. The last time I had Victoria Station was when I was still a little kid more than 20 years ago, at the outlet in Butterworth. After lunch, my father drove me to Petaling Jaya for a look, without getting down the car. On 7 August 2021, I had apam balik for my afternoon snack. On that evening, I ordered my dinner from Tangkak Beef Noodle. It's a preview of my upcoming life in Kluang, as Tangkak Beef Noodle has a famous outlet in Kluang. The 2020 Summer Olympics concluded on 8 August 2021. Malaysia obtained 1 silver medal and 1 bronze medal, which was quite a good result.

On 9 August 2021, both of my mentees under NUMed's Come Together (CT) programme successfully got the NUMed Teaching Fellow post for the upcoming academic year. I was so glad to know that. In the following days, I looked on the internet for rental houses in Kluang. I managed to get in touch with a rental agent. She recommended a house to me, but it looked rather old and underwhelming and was located quite far away from Kluang hospital, so I wasn't keen to rent it. The agent then recommended another house for me. This house looks really nice from the outside and is partially furnished. It's located in Bandar Seri Impian near Kluang hospital and the rental price is quite reasonable. I was interested to rent it, but I wanted to have a look at the interior of the house before making a decision.

On 11 August 2021, my mother brought me to Klinik Kesihatan Puchong Batu 13 to get a Medical Officer to certify the documents required for my House Officer training. However, there was no Medical Officers at Klinik Kesihatan Puchong Batu 13 at that time and I was told to go to Klinik Kesihatan Puchong Batu 14 instead. I managed to get my documents certified by a Medical Officer at Klinik Kesihatan Puchong Batu 14. The building of Klinik Kesihatan Puchong Batu 14 was quite new and it looked much better compared to Klinik Kesihatan Puchong Batu 13. With my documents certified, I proceeded to apply for Provisional Registration with the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC). Later that day, the rental agent gave me a virtual tour of the house in Bandar Seri Impian, Kluang through video calling. The interior of the house looks really nice, and I decided to rent it. I paid the rental deposit on that day. On that evening, I had Pao Xiang Bak Kut Teh for dinner.

On 12 August 2021, my mother brought me to Pejabat Hasil to remit the Hasil stamps for my House Officer job contract. In the afternoon, I had pizzas for lunch. On that evening, I bought pandan chicken from Absolute Thai in Main Place Mall for dinner. I also bought a chocolate cheese cake from Berry's Cake House for desserts. On 13 August 2021, I was granted my MMC Provisional Registration. On 15 August 2021, I had nasi lemak for lunch. Around that time, I ordered a mattress, washing machine and water heater for the house in Bandar Seri Impian, Kluang, and the rental agent helped me arrange the installation. I chose to forgo getting an air conditioner for the time being. I had wanted to go back to Kulim to visit my grandparents for a few days. Unfortunately, I couldn't get an interstate travel permit to travel to Kulim.

On 16 August 2021, my CT programme mentees began their Teaching Fellowship at NUMed. On that afternoon, I went to Uncle Don's again and bought Melaka Portuguese Asam Pedas Fish for lunch. I then had a blackforest cake from Berry's for desserts. On 17 August 2021, I once again ordered my favourite British fish and chips from Cor Blimey for my dinner. I had pork noodles for lunch on 18 August 2021. On 19 August 2021, my parents brought me to the Subang Jaya police station to get an interstate travel permit to go to Kluang. My parents had wanted to follow me to Kluang, but they weren't granted the permit. Only I was granted the permit as I would be travelling there to begin my House Officer training. On that evening, I and my parents ordered a mini steamboat from Mr Fish for dinner. On 20 August 2021, I had tomyam chicken from Thai Moment in USJ Taipan for dinner.

On 21 August 2021, I drove from Subang Jaya to Kluang myself. My parents followed me into the highway in their car, then they made a U-turn at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) before crossing the Selangor-Negeri Sembilan border. My parents would be bringing my grandparents to live with me in Kluang later once interstate travel is allowed. The traffic on the highway was very smooth with only a few cars. I encountered a police checkpoint, but I could get through it since I had the interstate travel permit. I arrived Kluang in the afternoon and went straight to my rental house at Bendar Seri Impian. The last time I was in Kluang was 18 months ago in March 2020, just before the start of the first MCO. The rental agent met me at the house and handed me the keys, then I moved into the house. On that evening, I ordered my dinner from Xiang La La Mala Hotpot in Kluang. Xiang La La Mala Hotpot has outlets in Johor Bahru and it had been my favourite during my MBBS course and Teaching Fellowship at NUMed. I was so glad that it has an outlet in Kluang which meant that I could keep having it from now on.

At night, I attempted to sleep in the master bedroom upstairs, but I found it too warm without an air conditioner. It also felt a little scary to sleep alone upstairs in such a big house. I decided to go downstairs and sleep on the L-shaped sofa instead. I found it more comfortable that way. On the following day 22 August 2021, I briefly explored the area around Bandar Seri Impian and visited the 99 Speed Mart at that area. The whole place just felt so weird and isolated. As I had been living in Johor Bahru for the past 7 years and Johor Bahru is much more developed than Kluang, I found it difficult to adapt to the huge change in environment. I became reluctant to explore Kluang further and I just went home. I ordered McDonald's for lunch. In the evening, I ordered chicken chop and cheese cake from Cheese U for my dinner.

On 23 August 2021, it was the start of the Program Transfomasi Minda (PTM). Due to the MCO, the PTM was held entirely online. My rental house didn't have WiFi connection so I had to use my phone's mobile data. The mobile network reception at that area wasn't quite strong and the internet kept getting disconnected. Luckily, I was then able to get a satisfactory internet connection in the master bedroom upstairs. On that evening, a contractor came to my rental house to install the ceiling lamps. On 24 August 2021, I had roast pork for dinner. On 25 August 2021, I ordered British fish and chips from Restoran Hadipex near my house. It tasted quite good, but despite its name, it was nowhere close to the authentic British style of Cor Blimey. On that evening, I had bak kut teh for dinner. The PTM ended on that day.

On 26 August 2021, I went to Dewan Jubli Intan Sultan Ibrahim in Kluang town to do my Covid RT-PCR test. I didn't know the directions in Kluang town at all and I had to rely heavily on Google Maps. Due to my strong gag reflex, the Covid test was really uncomfortable for me. After that, I had chicken briyani for lunch. I had been trying to order chicken briyani from several shops in the past few days, but all of them were sold out for some reasons. I was glad that I could finally have it on that day. On 27 August 2021, I ordered chicken rice for dinner. The results of my Covid RT-PCR test came out on that day and it was negative.

On 28 August 2021, my friend who started his House Officer training at Kluang hospital 3 weeks before me came to my rental house to visit me. He lived just a few streets away in Bandar Seri Impian. He had recommended me the Xiang Xia Lou Restaurant in Taman Kluang Indah, a nice area located not far from Bandar Seri Impian. Before he came to visit me, I bought lunch for both of us from that restaurant. I and my friend had a good talk, and he gave me some tips in preparation for starting House Officer training. Noting that I still hadn't made my hospital stamp, he reminded me to get my stamp made as soon as possible and showed me his stamp as a guide.

On 29 August 2021, I began working as a House Officer at Kluang hospital. The first week would be induction and orientation, while my 1st posting of House Officer training would begin on the following week. That marked the end of my 2021 summer break.

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