An unexpected vaccination scheme

 When doing my research for what to expect in my first year of university, something that didn't come up was the MenB vaccine. This is a vaccination to prevent illnesses caused by the Meningococcal group B (MenB) bacteria, which can cause diseases such as septicaemia and meningitis - both of which can lead to sepsis.

The NHS runs a yearly vaccination scheme targeted at first-year university students, as being around lots of new people and sharing living spaces with these people can increase the risk of contracting and spreading MenB bacteria. Hence, it's recommended that all first-year students receive their two doses of the vaccination before the autumn term, with the two doses at least 28 days apart.

As aforementioned, I had no idea of this when applying to university, and only found out when my sixth form's head teacher sent an email to all of the Year 13s informing us of this scheme (amongst some other important leavers' information), and explaining when it would be available, to whom, and how to book appointments.

If this is someone's first time hearing about this, don't worry, you can be prepared and immunised - if you wish! This vaccination is not mandatory; however, I think that this minor inconvenience for about two weeks in total is outweighed by the risks of meningitis. This is why I have decided to get it. I didn't know it was available until a few days ago because my friend got a notification through her NHS app - I didn't receive this notification, but after I realised it's likely because I hadn't fully completed setting it up. So I opened the app and was easily able to find where I can book to receive the vaccination. You're able to book appointments well in advance and with a variety of time slots (hopefully this is the same for everyone and not just my local GP), and so hopefully it should be a doddle for everyone else too! I believe the appointment should be about ten minutes, and hopefully very easy.

You can't have two appointments booked at once, and they say that if you attempt to attend a second appointment less than 28 days after the last, they will refuse you on the spot, so at least they're clear about when to book the next one. I had to wait a day before booking my next one as the NHS app wouldn't let me - I think the system still had me as having an upcoming appointment when it was the same day.

The appointment was very quick. I got there early, but they still just did it pretty much straightaway (other than the fact that the pharmacist had a prescription to sort first). It wasn't as bad as I thought; there was a lot of fear mongering online about how awful it was actually receiving the injection, which spiked my anxieties. I don't have a fear of needles; I think I just have a fear of the unknown, which causes me immense stress before new things, but I always know that these things aren't going to kill me, so I'll be okay. The worst part for me is that it was slightly longer than I remember other vaccines being, and I could feel the liquid moving into me from the point where the needle was in me, if that makes any sort of sense at all. It was kind of gross, but I'd rather feel gross for a maximum of ten seconds than get meningitis and possibly die.

I didn't feel much pain on the first day. After a while, it was slightly achy if I'd kept it still for a while, and I had very mini waves of minor nausea - though they could have been a placebo effect from me reading the side effect section of the information pamphlet. It was also extremely painful for me to lie fully on my vaccination side after a couple of hours. I think it's one of those things where it's different for everyone, though. My other two friends felt completely fine the first day, but I think the common side effect is that at least on the second day, your arm will be in pain. It wasn't like unbearable pain to where I could do nothing, but driving and changing gears was quite painful, and if anyone touched it, it would hurt quite a bit, but it wasn't awful. I also found that washing my hair and just having my arm raised even a bit made it hurt too. Day three was a majorly minor pain, but for me, it was just aching around where I'd had the vaccination. This was the easiest day; raising my arm didn't hurt at all, but it just sort of felt heavier in a way?

Anyways, enough of my blabbering. I think that anyone starting university this September should definitely get this vaccine. I know a lot of people have anxiety surrounding vaccinations as they don't really understand what goes into them, and there's a lot of fear-mongering online. I suggest that anyone with uncertainties speak to their pharmacist or do their own research online - this does not include listening to a loser with a podcast who has no experience in healthcare. Vaccines are so important to us as a society, yes we barely have any of these diseases anymore, but it's because of these vaccines that this has been able to happen. If people understood what the regulations and rules were for being able to introduce a vaccine to the UK, I think it would ease their anxieties.