A Monash Health nurse was among the first in Victoria to receive her Covid jab.
Rachel Hogben, nurse manager in the intensive care unit at Dandenong Hospital, received her first Pfizer shot on Monday 22 February.
She said she felt a sense of relief after receiving the vaccine, after a year of worry.
“I was shocked at how relieved I felt,” she said.
“In that moment, it all just hit me – everything we’ve been through over the last nine months and suddenly having that conclusion.”
She said the process of receiving the vaccine was simple and took mere minutes – and was accompanied by a lollipop at the end.
She experienced no side effects, only a “tiny bit of tenderness” at the injection site.
“I’d take a Covid shot over the tetanus shot!” she laughed.
Working in the ICU, Ms Hogben was on the Covid frontline and witnessed firsthand the agony of patients with the disease.
Around 35 Covid-positive patients passed through her team’s care, many from nursing homes.
She said Covid highlighted the interdependence of hospital staff, as nurses, doctors, cleaners, ward clerks, allied health professionals and others worked together to keep the system running smoothly.
Ms Hogben said the arrival of the vaccine was “reassuring”.
“For me, as manager of my ward, it’s reassuring knowing more and more of my staff are getting vaccinated and they’re safe.
“One of my biggest concerns last year … was making sure my team was safe and wouldn’t get sick and pass it on to their families.”
The vaccine provides another important means of keeping vulnerable people safe, she said.
“The vaccine is important because we need to protect the most vulnerable in the community,” she explained.
“It could be our grandparents, or a sick child, a sick parent or a sick sibling. For those of us who are healthy and well, most of us will be OK if we contract Covid – but those who are unwell don’t stand a chance against Covid and it’s about them,” she said.
Recent data from the Melbourne Institute’s fortnightly Taking the Pulse of the Nation (TTPN) survey shows that the proportion of Australians who don’t want to be vaccinated increased from 12 percent in October last year to 19.4 percent in early February.
But Ms Hogben said there was no need for vaccine hesitancy, declaring the vaccine safe.
“There’s a lot of misinformation out there; with vaccines, you only have to plant a seed of doubt and it scares people,” she said.
“But I would say it’s safe. I trust the science because it’s the same science that allows me to nurse and care for patients day in and day out.
“If we want to go back to a time that was like what we had pre-Covid, live that life again, then this is the only way forward. The only way we can do that is if we vaccinate.”
Ms Hogben is set to receive her second shot in just over a week’s time.
