COVID-19 Vaccine – What Common Side Effects You Can Feel | Pfizer Covid Vaccine Side Effects

What are some common side effects of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Covid vaccine?

I just received my first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine yesterday on May 08, 2021. I was not sure what to expect, as different people react to any kind of vaccine differently.  

Disclosure: This article represents my personal experiences and yours may be very different. I am not a medical professional. This is not a suggestion or recommendation for any products or anything else. I am only sharing my own experiences. If you have any questions or concerns, please consult your own physician.

The whole process was seamless and pleasant. I would like to thank the City of Toronto and the Ministry of Health for the good job they did.  My appointment was at 7:00 PM and I was done in 10 minutes. After that, I had to stay for 15 minutes in case some reactions appeared.

The nurse was really good, as I didn’t feel the needle and it was fast. I thanked her for her good work. I came home walking and even picked up a Tim Horton’s coffee on my way.

Later at night, I started feeling tired. I was on the Toronto Island for my Project Soundscapes video recording, so I was not even sure if I felt tired because I was outdoors all day or from the vaccine.

I slept well at night. In the morning, I felt slight pain at the injection spot on my left arm. There was a pain if I tried to lift my arm, but it was very negligible. I also had a coarse voice with fever and runny nose. However, the slight fever was on and off throughout the day. I also felt tired on and off.

Overall, the effects were not bad at all. They didn’t stop me doing my regular activities and there was nothing on the heavy side. My 2nd dose is scheduled for August and I’m looking forward to completing it.

How To Green Back-To-School

Greening Up Your Back To School

First Published Date: June 25, 2010

When kids start going back to school, it can mean a lot of extra costs for the parents. Parents have to think about the cost of school supplies. School supplies can run up the pocketbook, but another concern is their environmental impact on the world. Every year, billions of pens and crayons are bought; millions of binders and hundreds of billions of sheets of paper are purchased. That is a lot to take away from the Earth, so it is important that parents look at green alternatives for school. What are some things that they can consider?

First of all, forget about buying new pens and pencils. There are plenty of recycled options out there. You can also look at getting refillable pens and pencils that can be used over and over, for many years to come. In addition, another alternative is to have biodegradable pens made from corn. These pens are cheap, and will degrade away when they are thrown out.

Second, instead of buying new paper, you should get recycled paper. Recycled paper is very affordable now and it looks almost like regular new paper. The great thing is that it does not take away from any forests to make, so you can never impact the planet by just buying recycled paper over and over again.

Third, binders made from recycled products are very popular these days. They carry a green message and many are made from diverse products including old plastic bags and plastic bottles. Since fashion is important for kids in school, these binders are made to look good so your child will be happy to use them.

Fourth, instead of buying new ink cartridges, you should look at just refilling ink cartridges. When you buy new ink cartridges, you are wasting the plastic and ink that was used to create those cartridges. There are many businesses all over the country these days that will provide you with a refill. You can use your old ink cartridge and you will spend a fraction of the price as a result.

Fifth, look at getting calculators that are made from recycled products and other calculators. Many manufacturers are reusing parts to save money and to help you save the environment as well.

Lastly, consider buying backpacks that do not contain any PVC. PVC-free backpacks and lunchboxes are important because when they are thrown away, the PVC leaches out into the environment and there are some studies that show PVC backpacks may be causing some chronic diseases in children. Speaking of lunchboxes, instead of buying new plastic bags every day to hold sandwiches, you can use a reusable sandwich container instead. That way, you prevent plastic bags from making their way out into the environment where they can do immense harm to animals that mistake them for food.

These are just a few of the things you can do to help the environment, help your children and help save some money, especially when you don’t have to keep buying new products over and over again.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Thegreenlivingblog.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on June 25, 2010.

How To Green Your Office

Greening Up Your Office

First Published Date: June 25, 2010

When you want to go green, you often look at how you can go green within your own home. However, we spend eight hours a day at the office, so it is important that you also look at greening your own office. There are many ways that you can do this, but here are the easiest that will not only save the environment, but save your office money as well.

1.    When computers, copiers, printers and other equipment are not being used, make sure they are turned off. Over the weekend, be sure to unplug things that are not being used because that will save you even more money. At the very least, ensure your electronic devices go to standby so they use much less power.

2.    Whenever you use paper, recycle it. This is one of the easiest things for a company to do and all it involves is putting out a recycle bin near where people will use it. It is very easy to do it and it will save the environment a lot of wasted paper.

3.    You should buy 100 per cent recycled paper, refillable ink cartridges, non-toxic highlighters and more in your office. Environmentally friendly office products are cost-effective and very good for the environment.

4.    Look at the possibility of telecommuting. Many companies are now allowing their workers to telecommute because it can save them money. This generally means that you work from home so that you do not have to drive to work. This increases the amount of time a worker is available, and it also cuts down on car pollution.

5.    In the office, encourage car-pooling, public transit use, as well as walking and biking to work. It is a good way to help your employees get to know each other, get exercise and help the environment at the same time.

6.    Don’t print off your e-mails unless you absolutely need to. Often, we have copies of e-mails printed off and on the computer and there is no reason for this. Just keep e-mails backed up on the computer and ask others that they don’t print off the e-mails you send them.

7.    When you have coffee and food in the office, promote buying local and organic food. You can do the same with coffee by buying organic and fair-trade coffee within the office. You should also ask that employees bring their own mugs so that disposable coffee containers are not being used within the office.

There are many things that you can do in the office if you want to save money and the environment. The ones mentioned here are just the easier ones and the ones that you can do right now without a lot of cost. Other things you can do include putting in skylights that you can use to bring in more natural sunlight, changing the heating system within the building and more. The office is a great place to go green when you know how to go about it

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Thegreenlivingblog.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on June 25, 2010.

India and China Oppose Global Warming Initiatives from the West

India, China, and Global Warming

First Published Date: Nov 28, 2009

You may want to call it a strange cohabitation of convenience but whatever name you give to it, there seems to be a resolve among these two neighbouring giants that are India and China that the west is not going to dictate them at all, no matter who is going to suffer the consequences. These two Asian neighbours have decided to hold firm ground in their resistance to sign the protocol that is going to bind them toward the reduction of green house gases that are believed to be the cause of global warming, a subject the whole wide world seems to be pre-occupied with. They simply will not budge in the bid to have them commit to afford even limited reductions as the world looks or other measures that could bear more fruit on the same.

The China and India partnership is viewed by some as the major element that has lately brought together a group of close to 37 developing nations who have proposed an amendment to the renowned Kyoto Protocol, and they have come up with their own figures which they feel should be the basic greenhouse gas emission levels to be undertaken by especially those countries they consider the main contributors to the problem of greenhouse gases.

It appears to be almost apparent here that this is a case of tow bulls fighting because the developed nations themselves have their own set of assessments and they laid claim that the new targets are actually causing a confusion which according to them is simply impractical. You wonder who then is going to suffer as these two opposing sides continue to flex their muscles, with none of the sides considering ceding any grounds whatsoever. Talk about having vested interest and you have a real case scenario here.

The G-77 group of nations has stuck to their guns regarding the original targets of trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% and they feel this must be enforced. They are looking to move forward to the second phase of the plan which is envisaged to take place between 2013 and 2020 which according to them will see a reduction from countries such as Japan, Russia, UK and the United States playing their major roles in saving the planet from the affects of global warming, which we have started to feel all over the planet currently.

The current trend of climate talks seem to be headed to a stalemate again with India insisting during a recent forum that no one was going to force anything down their throat since it was still at the negotiating stage. All the analyses according to the delegates who attended the meeting are subject to debate and open to discussion. It remains to be seen what the results are going to be, but according to many, the insistence of the Asian sisterhood of India and China that the west must lead by example since they are the major contributors to the problem, is going to be a hard nut to crack and only time will tell how far the resolve of the bullies from the west is going to push them.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Thegreenlivingblog.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Nov 28, 2009.

Blair Warns Obama That Climate Change Needs Attention

Global Environment, Environmental Crisis, And Global Economic Crisis

First Published Date : March 9, 2009 ADawnJournal.com

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned new US president Barack Obama that the current global economic crisis must not distract people from looking to take steps in avoiding climate change. The warning comes as Obama meets Blair’s successor Gordon Brown to discuss solutions to the economic situation, and brings into sharp focus the potential dangers of taking one’s eye of the ball when it comes to environmental matters – a potential and natural reaction to the high priority that is being placed on the financial crisis. The message from Tony Blair is that, economic crisis or no economic crisis, there  are still issues that need to be addressed with real urgency where environmental concerns are at issue.

In Blair’s view, some people are of the opinion that due to the economic turmoil, the environmental crisis that we could be facing needs to take a back seat, but in his words “either the climate is changing or it is not”. And, with the scientific consensus on the matter saying that it is incontrovertibly the case that climate change is a reality, we cannot simply turn our backs on environmental issues. If we are to do that, not only will the environmental crisis multiply, but it will have very real knock-on effects on the economic situation too. As a consequence, it is important that we concentrate equally on facing down the two major crises of our time – the global environment and the global economy.

Mr Blair has welcomed the fact that in Mr. Obama’s recently-passed economic stimulus plan are contained incentives to use cleaner, renewable sources of energy. This is a sound effort to ensure that, rather than take one crisis as a priority and ignore the other, both problems can be tackled as a joint effort. With the expense that is involved in relying on fossil fuels – a situation that makes the global oil market an ever thornier problem – to concentrate on looking at alternative energy and greater energy efficiency makes more sense than ever. This is something that seems to set Obama apart from his predecessor George W Bush, who was viewed by many as a climate change sceptic, and viewed the scientific consensus as being misleading.

With the economic crisis still possessing a very firm grip on many of the world’s leading economies, there will continue to be stimulus and bailout plans to try and bring it into line. Mr. Blair’s words to Mr. Obama seem to be a warning to avoid economic expediency taking hold at the expense of environmentally sound plans. With Mr. Obama having taken great care in selecting his cabinet and his advisers, it does seem that this warning is not one that will fall on deaf ears. A continuing focus on matters environmental is both essential and likely, but it is not a battle that will be won any time soon, and one which will depend on continued monitoring. This is an issue that we will continue to read about for a long time to come.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Thegreenlivingblog.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Mar 9, 2009.