Suffering from asthma has its challenges in normal living - I’m not able to run as much as my peers and I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night feeling like my lungs are on the verge of giving up.
Fears that I would one day end up in hospital with Covid-19 has given me many sleepless nights over the past 15 months.
Those bags that you can see under my eyes just show how much the pandemic has taken its toll on my physical and mental health - I turned 30 this year but I feel like I’ve aged much more than that.
As cases started to spike around my home in the southside of Glasgow, I started to wonder how long it would take before my fears of becoming seriously ill came to fruition.
Word quickly spread on social media over the weekend that the vaccine programme was reportedly being accelerated for all of my neighbours over the age of 18.
And then I was given my first glimpse of hope yesterday amid this health crisis that never seems to be ending - I was called up to get my first dose of the jab.
I previously imagined that I would scream the house down when the text came through, but my actual response was one of silent relief.
And that continued when I entered into the incredible setup at the Glasgow Central Mosque, as I joined the queue with dozens of other southsiders waiting on the vaccine.
Many of the people were misty-eyed as they waited on one of the NHS Scotland workers calling their name out to roll up their sleeves.
I was swelling with different emotions when I looked around the building - but excitement immediately took over when it was my turn.
When the needle went into my arm, I felt that like the worst of my experiences during the crisis had started to finally turn a real corner this time.
I have now been lucky enough to share that experience with more than three million Scots across the country.
Vaccine uptake has been particularly remarkable from the older age groups - almost 100% of people over the age of 55 are said to have been given their first jab, according to Scottish Government data.
There are fears that vaccine hesitancy will increase as the NHS works its way down the age groups.
A study released by the University of Glasgow in March this year found that more than a quarter (28.3%) of adults aged 25-34 say they wouldn’t take up the jab.
But, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that vaccines work in fighting the virus.
A recent study of the AstraZeneca and the Pfizer jabs found that almost 100% of people developed antibodies to fight off Covid-19.
In the US, which has given first doses to more than 160 million people, has seen case numbers drop by more than a third (36%) in the past two weeks, according to the New York Times.
And most importantly, it also provides provides protection from passing the virus onto loved ones.
Experts at Public Health England say that one dose of the Covid vaccine reduces your risk of passing on the virus by up to half.
An amazing show of community spirit swept across Scotland during the early months of the pandemic when we all took to our doorsteps to thank those amazing NHS Scotland workers on the frontline.
Let’s ensure that we keep that going, by taking up the jab when we are offered it to prevent us going back to the dark days of the winter that has just passed.
Getting the vaccine has made me finally feel that there is actually light at the end of the tunnel - let’s do our bit to help the country on the road to that light.
