Matthew, a 63-year-old from East Scotland, was diagnosed with gonorrhoea 10 years ago and had a reaction known as reactive arthritis, external – extreme pain in your joints caused by your body’s reaction to an infection.
He told the BBC that the experience, which has caused lasting damage to some of his fingers and toes, was so painful it’s left him fearful of becoming re-infected and has impacted his mental health.
He says: “I’m constantly looking for symptoms and I’m constantly aware of it, and I feel a bit like I used to do in the 1980s when I was constantly fretting about HIV.
“I’d get some sort of cough and think ‘oh my god, what’s happening?'”
He is hoping to be one of the first people to get a vaccine in order to give himself and his sexual partners more protection.
“You’re not just protecting yourself, you’re protecting your partners.
“I think it will also relieve some of the burden on sexual health services, it’s getting difficult to get appointments so if it can work to reduce the incidence of STIs I think it’s really worth it.”
Richard Angell, chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust, a leading sexual health charity, told the BBC the vaccine was a “remarkable addition to our toolkit on sexual health”.
Dr Amanda Doyle, NHS national director for primary care and community services, said it was important “everyone eligible takes up the offer through sexual health services” in order to “keep each other safe”.
“It’s a real step forward for sexual health,” she added.
People who may be eligible for the vaccine are being asked to contact their local sexual health clinic, external for more information.