Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) – Los Angeles-based Filipino nurse Pamela Surla-Milligan shared to CNN Philippines her experience after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine made by US drugmaker Pfizer.

Milligan, a nurse at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, said she experienced a bit of soreness in the part of her arm where she was injected with her first dose around second week of December.

She experienced some mild flu symptoms a day after getting her second dose.

“I felt a little bit achy, some chills like low-grade fever. It was like a case of 24-hour mild flu. The day after that, I was back to normal,” Milligan said.

Despite her experience, Milligan is encouraging everyone to get vaccinated since most of her hospital colleagues did not experience side effects on the first and second doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

“Some immunity to COVID-19 is better than absolutely none. We should trust the data,” Milligan said.

She also said Filipinos should be given the chance to choose what vaccine brand will be administered to them once doses arrive in the country.

Milligan thanked her fellow medical frontliners for the sacrifices they made during this health crisis and expressed hope the release of COVID-19 vaccines will signal the end of the pandemic which has already infected more than 93 million people and claimed over 1.9 million lives worldwide.

“The vaccine gives us hope and the feeling that finally, there’s light at the end of this dark tunnel that we have been on this 2020. I’m really hopeful that our lives will regain some normalcy like we can travel again, enjoy the world and our families,” she said.