Due to my position as a police officer, I need to conceal my identity out of the fear that I will lose my job. The code of conduct requires anyone in the police force to be mandated for the COVID vaccine, and if I speak against this I will be terminated.
Prior to the COVID vaccine I was working full-time as a frontline police officer. The position required me to be fit and healthy, I was always on the go and the weekends were also go go go. I lived a very health conscious active lifestyle and I never had any health issues whatsoever.
I got the vaccine because it was mandated by the Police Commissioner. I was hesitant because it was so new and all the reactions I heard people having. I was one of the last few to comply before the cut-off, until I was put on the spot. I was eating breakfast at my desk, when out of the blue they said there is a vehicle on the way to come and get me to take me to get the vaccine. I felt like my choice was taken away from me and I would be sacked on the spot, so I just had to suck it up with the others who were in the same position, and we were escorted to get the vaccine.
I got the first Pfizer vaccine in my left arm in October 2021. I felt nothing other than a typical sore arm. I went back to work and everything was fine. Later that night I started experiencing mild chest pain which intensified overnight. It was irritating but I was told this was a normal side effect, so I didn’t think too much of it at the time and went to work as normal the following day.
I struggled but persisted through the day. Later that night my symptoms progressed to get worse and I just kept ignoring it thinking this was still a side effect. The heaviness on my chest made it difficult for me to relax, therefore getting to sleep was a challenge .This continued for almost a week until I realised this wasn’t normal and decided to see my GP.
I presented my symptoms and told my GP that I never had this problem before and that I thought this was from the vaccine. The GP was hesitant to say anything, but agreed to send me off to get an ECG. The results came back all clear.
The next week, new symptoms appeared: neck stiffness, numbness in my left hand fingertips, pins and needles and weakness in my body. As the ECG came back all clear, I wasn’t sure what step to take next as everyone said the side effects could take a few weeks to go away.
I was now mandated to get the second COVID vaccine. I pushed it out as long as I could because I still wasn’t feeling well. As it was the Commissioner’s directive that all officers had to be fully vaccinated, two at the time, I sucked it up to do “the right thing” and I got the second Pfizer vaccine in my left arm in November 2021.
I felt nothing out of the new normal until a week later. I started feeling very weak and fatigued throughout the entire day, I felt like I couldn’t get enough sleep. I had constant anxiety and stress, brought on by my injury that had progressively gotten worse now. Erratic heart palpitations and heart beat, feeling like I was going to have a heart attack anytime now.
I went back to the GP and told her my symptoms, this time I got my blood tested. The results came back all clear and I was then referred to an immunologist, and they assessed me for having very minimal strength. Still to this day, I have trouble squeezing my fist, mainly my left hand. They assessed my right leg by putting pressure on it with their hands and put some pins in my legs to see what I could feel. They found something was wrong but they couldn’t link it to the vaccine and told me it was all in my head. They said they would review me in two to three months so, thankfully, I had a temporary exemption till my next appointment.
It was now December 2021 and the Police Commissioner’s new directive was to have the booster vaccine. Because of the temporary exemption I managed to get away from the procedure until March 2022, and that’s when I went back to the neurologist and was granted another three-month exemption for a follow up. Around this time, my symptoms had gotten out of control. I was unable to work due to the inability to walk for more than 30 seconds as my leg would cramp and burn up.
After the two weeks off work I managed to get myself to walk again, but it’s still numb with pins and needles. I went back to my GP to tell her I was still experiencing all of the symptoms listed above. She told me it was possibly nerve damage from a back injury and completely ruled out the possibility of being vaccine related. As you can imagine I was extremely frustrated and felt like I was being treated like I was stupid. I told her I wanted to be exempt from the booster vaccine. She said I couldn’t be exempt because I wasn’t hospitalised and that it was all caused by stress and anxiety, and that I should find another job as she was advised not to give out exemptions.
The follow-up neurologist appointment was rescheduled twice, which has given me some time, but the symptoms are still not getting any better. Throughout the entirety of my injury I have been told this is all in my head, and for that reason I have not been given any pain medication at all. I have just had to deal with it day to day on top of working this whole time apart from the two weeks where I couldn’t walk. My quality of life is at an all time low.
Currently, I’m left in a position where I am being pressured to get the booster vaccine even though I am temporarily exempt. I’m being hassled weekly without fail. I told them I had no control over the rescheduling of my appointments but it falls on deaf ears and they still keep pushing me.
This isn’t in my head! I am experiencing a COVID vaccine Injury! This is clear to me, I know my body and the only thing that ever changed in my life is getting the COVID vaccine. I have one month until I am served with disciplinary action and stood down as I cannot get an exemption. No-one will take me seriously and link my injury to the COVID vaccine.