"Listen to those of us affected by the side effects of the vaccine"
Since 14 May last year, my body has been burning. A fiery nerve pain, like a thousand needles, in my arms, legs, torso, face and chest has lowered my quality of life and left a deep mark on my daily life. I have felt so alone, because no one has really wanted to listen when I say that I am convinced that the symptoms are a side effect of the vaccine against covid-19. It has felt like swearing in church, a violation of a common, silent agreement not to criticize anything sacred.
After six months, I finally found some others who could confirm my experience. About 20 people, now up to 37, testified in a closed Facebook group to exactly the same kind of symptoms: numbness, tingling, a feeling of fire in the body, tinnitus, all linked to the time of vaccination, often immediately after injection.
We had identical experiences of not being taken seriously, of not being seen by the health care system, politicians or the media. Rejected referrals, doctors failing to report to the Medical Products Agency, rejection after rejection of Medicines Insurance claims, belittlement of us as individuals - all of these have contributed to making life even more desperate.
We were in favour of the vaccination programme and wanted to protect both ourselves and society, but when we drew the shortest straw in the vaccine lottery, we were left in the lurch. [...]