Meet the Lincoln students who have received their Covid-19 vaccine

‘It was done in five minutes, no hassle’


Students at the University of Lincoln have received their first doses of the coronavirus vaccine. For most students across the country, they will have to wait months for the jab. However, for those who are working on the frontlines in the pandemic, and those who are critically vulnerable, they have been able to receive their first dose.

We spoke to three students who study at the university who have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Alison Cromarty, a student at the University of Lincoln, received her first dose last week, “I have Cystic Fibrosis which means I am clinically vulnerable,” she said.

The process of receiving the vaccine “was alright”. Alison told The Lincoln Tab: “Once inside there were six chairs staggered in a corridor so we had to sit down until called into a room. I went into one room where they asked if I had any allergies to medication which I do so they had to send me to a different room as there were two different types of vaccines available and they wanted to give me the latter to avoid an allergic reaction.

“After the vaccine, I had to wait 15 minutes to see if you have any reactions, like a lot of people. I was expecting this so a process I thought would take 10 minutes took half an hour.”

Alicia Hazlewood, a second year student at the University of Lincoln received her first dose of the vaccine on January 26. She received her vaccine early as she works for a private ambulance service in South Yorkshire, which transports dialysis patients who are classified as clinically vulnerable. She said: “Everything was fine, it was just like every other time I have had an injection. A minor sting at the time, then an achy arm afterward. I haven’t had any side effects yet.

“It was very quick and easy, I went straight in at my allocated time, filled in a brief form with the usual details, and it asked 10 yes or no questions, for example, ‘Are you pregnant?’, ‘Do you have any serious allergies?’. I went straight to the doctor, had the vaccine, and received the little card that tells you what vaccine you had and the date.”

Alicia told The Lincoln Tab: “I had to sit in a waiting room for 15 minutes after, just in case of a blood pressure drop. I’ll be having my second dose at a later date. The current guidelines are up to 12 weeks, but this could change.”

Alex Hornby, a third year journalism student at the University of Lincoln received the AstraZeneca vaccine. Alex is a carer for those who are vulnerable and “passing the virus onto them would mean a plethora of bad things happening.”

Alex said: “It was done in five minutes, no hassle. It was all very orderly, a light stabbing and it was done and dusted. The only hassle came later with a set of side effects.”

When Alex arrived at his appointment, “it was standard NHS Covid procedure: temperature, surgical mask, social distancing, and a few short lines. They asked you a few questions to make sure I wasn’t in any danger, for example, ‘Were you part of the vaccine testing groups?’. They gave me the jab, some information about it, and said my next appointment was in 12 weeks.”

Alex told The Lincoln Tab other reasons why he chose to receive the vaccine. “Vaccines generally speaking disrupt the spread of viruses which is great because that means the pandemic dies out faster and thus we get out of lockdown quicker – something everybody wants. Probably the most important reason to me (if a little selfish). I miss my girlfriend. She studies in Merseyside, so when I came to study in Lincoln, our relationship became long distance. We’re both more used to it, but it’s harder being home under a lockdown. We live 10 minutes away from each other but that means nothing at the moment.”

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