Joan Wakefield has barely been able to walk for the best part of six months. The 72-year-old from Stockport had a knee replacement in October and has since suffered infections in the scar tissue, causing agonising pain.
Then at the beginning of this month she received the first dose of AstraZeneca‘s Covid-19 vaccine. ‘I woke up the next morning and the leg pain and stiffness was gone,’ she says.
‘I couldn’t believe it. I joked with my partner about whether the vaccine had anything to do with it. Previously, I couldn’t even bend my leg. Now I can extend it fully, and even put my shoes and socks on. I’m optimistic I’ll be able to return to work sooner, rather than later, now.’
It seems ludicrous – a vaccine designed to protect against one virus can, somehow, improve other totally unrelated elements of health.
But Joan Wakefield is far from alone.
