Leonard Cronin said he was “totally surprised” by how unwell he felt after his first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

“I get my flu shot every year and don’t normally get any reaction at all,” Mr Cronin said.

“It was not a mild cold or fatigue.

“It was nasty flu symptoms: I was really ill.”

Mr Cronin, 72, said he was “first in line” to get vaccinated two months ago when he became eligible.

He had his vaccine around 11:30am and felt fine until about 2:00am the next morning.

“There was just this terrible flu feeling,” Mr Cronin explained.

“I spent most of the day in bed.”

Mr Cronin said symptoms disappeared when he woke up after a second nights’ sleep, roughly 45 hours post-vaccination.

And although Mr Cronin still encourages all eligible Australians to have their vaccine as soon as they can, he is urging people to plan a recovery day.

“You might have a fairly nasty flu reaction and should be prepared to take the following day or two off,” he said.

“Make sure you don’t have any big commitments.”