Natalie Thinks

I’m one of those people (one of only 1 million South Africans) who gets the flu vaccine every year, because I teach and also because flu is extremely unpleasant.  Also because I’ve seen it kill a strong young man of 30.  Around 5000 die every year from flu.  I have it down to a fine art; the key being to get it in April as soon as it’s available so that you have a full 6 weeks of warm weather to build immunity before winter hits.  So when Covid-19 registration opened early, on the 30 th of June, for the 50-59 age category, I registered immediately, knowing that so far, this was the only perk of having turned 50 in May.  Just 6 days later, before even getting my responding SMS, I received a WhatsApp from a friend saying she had popped into a vaccine site and that I should go straight away as they weren’t busy, and so I did.  I was perfectly healthy and excited to receive my protection. The following day I felt a bit tired, as expected, and took it easy.  On the 8 th I started with s