Tuesday, October 12, 2021
6:01 a.m. Green Guest House
Mae Sot, Thailand
To my great surprise, I felt some clear effects from the second dose of Pfizer. I suffered nothing other than a slightly tender arm after the first dose. And, at first, I thought this second dose would be the same. I felt nothing for most of the day and early evening. Even my arm wasn’t really sore. But then as evening turned into night, I developed quite a strong fever and chills. It was a very strange feeling. It took me a while to even figure out what it was. The chills built up steadily until my whole body was shivering. And my arms even felt cold to the touch against my legs as I tossed and turned and tried to get comfortable and allow sleep to settle over me. Yet, I had a somewhat high fever. I’ve never been able to figure that out. How can you be running a fever and yet have severe chills? But that’s what was going on, and it went on for most of the night.
I was very glad about this, as it told me that my body was reacting strongly to the vaccine. The vaccine was doing what it was supposed to be doing. I guess after the first dose, my immune system sort of rolled out of bed and stumbled around and kind of checked out the situation. It alerted a bunch of sleepy soldiers and sent them around to walk the perimeter. But it wasn’t like a full-on mobilization. But after this second dose, my half-awake immune system went on full alert and mobilized all the weapons it had, PLUS the national guard. My whole body was buzzing with the news of an impending viral invasion, and it got ready.
I also felt fatigued. My arms and legs felt like lead, and they were difficult to move. I still feel that way now, and it took quite an effort to get out of bed and get moving this morning. My limbs refused to acknowledge the orders my brain was sending them to start doing the things I needed them to do for me to live my life.
That’s all good news as far as I am concerned. I’m now fully vaccinated, and the vaccine appears to have activated my immune system and prepared it for the real virus, if it shows up. But the story is not over yet. I now have the October 22nd date to look towards. And on that date, I may or may not have both a vaccine certificate and an international vaccine passport. I also wonder if this vaccine passport is connected in any way with international systems. Is some kind of common system being agreed upon between countries? Or is this vaccine passport going to be uniquely Thai in nature?
With the chills and fever, I also had a lot of trouble sleeping. I lay in bed wide awake for most of the night. And at one point, I had an idea about Step 4 in the instructions at the hospital regarding LINE. I think I understand now what it was trying to say. This is what Step #4 said:
- Add friend LINE application and send the photo of your passport. LINE ID @706szjdb
Now I have an idea of what it might mean. I think it is simply telling me to download and install the LINE app. And the word “friend” is telling me what kind of app it is. It’s functioning as an adjective here, not a noun. Originally, I thought I was supposed to add some kind of “friend” to my LINE account and perhaps get an application form from this person. Or something like that. But the instructions didn’t tell me which “friend” to add. So, I was confused.
BUT it’s not telling me to add a friend to LINE and fill out an application form. It’s telling me to download and install the social messaging LINE app. But instead of calling it a social messaging app, they called it a “friend LINE application”.
Now I feel kind of dumb. I was way out of my depth at this vaccination clinic, but even I would be capable of downloading LINE to my phone, taking a picture of my passport, and then sending that picture to that particular LINE ID. I’d never used LINE or even seen LINE in my life, but I could figure it out. It’s just that I had no idea that that was what Step 4 was telling me to do. But now, the friendly English-speaking clerk must think I am the dumbest foreigner she has ever come across.