So let's start with the vaccination process!

I know some of us may be getting the vaccine soon, and with everyone else in Singapore being able to register for the vaccine come June, you may be wondering what the steps are like, what the side effects are, and so on. You may also be feeling quite nervous, so hopefully knowing how the process is like may ease this anxiety.

The process is actually rather simple and easy. First, you need to register for the Covid-19 vaccine. Then you'll need to head down to the vaccination centre that you're registered to, for example, Minmed's centre at Hougang Community Centre.

When you're there, you'll first need to take a queue number and wait outside the centre. Once your number is called, you'll be ushered into one of the registration counters and the staff will ask for your IC. They will search you up in the system and then ask you some simple questions, like whether you've had any fever recently, what your allergic reactions are and so on.

After that, you'll head over to the vaccination queue and wait for your turn to be vaccinated.

Once your turn is up, you'll be sent to a vaccination booth with a nurse inside. Here, they'll just ask you some more questions for safety reasons, and if you're getting your second jab they'll also ask if you had any reactions to it. Then, it's time to get jabbed!

Personally I felt that the injection was really quick, like it was over in less than three seconds! I didn’t have any bad reactions to it as well, except some arm sore on the first theee days.

So congrats, you've finally got your jab! Now it's time to head over to the observation deck and rest for 30 minutes. This is to make sure that in the case of any adverse reactions, there will be doctors and nurses on-site to attend to you. Your 'discharge' time (which is in 30 minutes from the time of the jab) will be written on your queue number.

Once the time is up, you will be called up to the discharge counter to get your vaccination slip, which kinda serves as a certificate or proof that you've been jabbed.

Then you're done! Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

The whole process typically takes up to one hour but in most situations, it's less than that. The most time-consuming part would be the observation time, but it's mandatory and you have no choice but to wait. There are common side effects such as headaches, giddiness and some fever. Your arm will also get sore. The side effects that are more 'serious' would be rashes, bloatedness, or shortness of breath. If you don't have these symptoms, you good.

Alright now onto the more fun part - working at Minmed as a healthcare assistant! I'm currently working at the Hougang outlet and we have two shifts which are the AM (8am-3pm) and PM (3pm-10pm) shifts. You'll get paid S$10/hour on weekdays and S$12 on weekends.

Job scope wise, there are a few things you can do, be it registration, ushering, or the discharge counter. One very important thing is you need how to speak Chinese. Sad reality, but it's a fact. I mean the majority of elderly people are Chinese and most don't understand English. Heck some don't even understand Chinese and I need to speak in broken Hokkien to them. One good thing is I'm fluent in Malay too, so I can attend to most patients.

You may wonder if the elderly are hard to deal with. Surprisingly most of them have been really nice and cute. On my first day I met some difficult people who were upset when their discharge time was up but we didn't call them to be discharged yet (the system was down), so they started raising their tone and being angst and all that. We just calmly talked to them and explained the situation and they were mostly understanding after. I think this job actually changed my mindset of the elderly in Singapore. It's true that they're very kancheong spider and all that, but most of them are kind.

You can sign up for the job online if you are interested. There are also other positions such as vaccinators and nurses. If you don't get a reply, comment down below and I'll try to get someone to talk to you! Based on experience, their HR is pretty bad. I actually got an email reply from them to which I stated that I could only work from April onwards. When April came, no one got to me so I called them, emailed them and texted them for days - and no one bothered to reply. Meanwhile, the same number was still replying to my friends who were already registered for the job. I was quite upset with their attitude but whatever! - I called up my sister and she asked her site manager for help. He contacted me that night itself and I reported to work the next day.

And guess what? A week later HR texted me to ask for my IC. As if nothing happened. Such unprofesisonalism LOL.

But anyway! I've been enjoying my work and it's fun and chill as well. If you need some extra cash, this would be a good part-time gig to consider. I hope y'all gained some insights from this blog post and am more familiar with the vaccination process and job.

Till then, see you next post (and enjoy this video of Michelle Chong getting her vaccine at our centre)!