Thread by @Saraheboon

I had my COVID vaccine yesterday, so I thought I’d do a thread doing this as an autistic person, so other autistic people will know what to expect.

I got an email from my employer to book my vaccine because I am a key worker.

I followed the link from the email to book the appointment online.

I was able to select an appointment for 2 days later!

On the booking form, they have a section where you can let staff know about your disabilities and any accommodations you may need.

When I booked my 1st appointment, it automatically booked my 2nd appointment for the next dose in April.

When I booked the appointment, I was told to bring 3 documents: official ID, a letter from my employer to say I am a key worker and a consent form.

On both the consent form and at the vaccination centre they needed to know my personal details, my NHS number, GP name and GP’s practise address. It’s useful to find out this info before and note it down.

Many people don’t know their NHS number, to find it out you can contact your GP or find it on a hospital letter sent to you.

I showed up at the vaccination centre 10 min before the appointment at my local hospital.

They asked for my documents and I needed to fill in one more form.

I was allowed to have a family member come with me as a reasonable adjustment. I told the staff I was autistic and they had no problem with having a family member with me.

I was also wearing my sunflower lanyard to the vaccine centre.

Once I was checked in, I had to wait between 2-3 mins until I was taken into the vaccination room.

There was a nurse and a vaccinator in the room. The nurse explained what was going to happen and the vaccinator gave the vaccine.

It was all very quick, I was only in the room about 2 mins and the vaccine took about 5 seconds.

After the vaccine, you have to wait 15 minutes before leaving just to make sure that you are all okay after the vaccine.

I was able to wait in a quieter room for this rather than the main waiting room! This made a big difference.

The nurses told me the exact time I could leave once I had waited 15 minutes.

Once the 15 minutes were up, I could go home.

I’ve had mild side effects including a slight headache, a sore arm and a little fatigue. These are all normal side effect. You are given a list of all the side effects after having the vaccine. This will help you know what to expect.

Hope you found this thread helpful!

If you would like to support my online advocacy work, I would be forever grateful if you could buy me a coffee (or tea in my case) ko-fi.com/saraheboon

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