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Today is the anniversary of the day I went into self-isolation. Yesterday I got my first vaccination against the virus.
On Sunday I was talking with my niece on the phone. One of her daughters is a teacher who got her first shot a while back at a location much closer than the place I went. It was one of those lines of cars like you see on TV and she had to wait about an hour. My niece was trying to prepare me for the same kind of experience. I'd never gone to the place I was scheduled for, the town convention center. So I looked it up on Google maps, and got the street view to figure the best way in and out of that area. Yep, I could see a surface parking lot that looked like it could fit a long serpentine of cars. I had scheduled for late in the morning so it wouldn't be cold getting a shot outside and so the traffic wouldn't be horrible. Indeed the traffic was fine all the way downtown. When I approached the convention center, something looked quite different from the street view I'd seen. I came around the corner where I should have been able to see the building. Instead there was a parking structure that obviously had been built since the street view shot had been taken. I pulled into the drive and was directed to park in the structure. Yippee! I was going to do my waiting inside!
I found a parking spot on the first level. Very nice. If I'd looked around after I parked I could have seen a way to the convention center building that would have saved a few steps, but it wasn't exactly a long walk the way I went. There was a short line outside the building. But as soon as I was about to get in it, someone farther down waved me to himself. He asked one question then sent me to the end of the building a few steps away. The guy there asked when my appointment was and checked me off a list, and sent me to a table where a guy handed me a blank vaccination record card and some sheets of info on the vaccine and a disposable mask to put over the one I was wearing. As I walked up to the first station inside the building, the line there disappeared. The fellow here had me use hand sanitizer and sent me to one of many fellows behind plastic shields who checked my ID, filled out my vaccination card for the day and made my appointment for my second shot, all fairly quickly. Next I was sent to the line where the fellow was sending people to tables to get shots. Again the line disappeared as I approached and I probably had to wait ten seconds before I was sent on to get my shot.
I didn't feel the shot at all. All I felt was the medic putting the bandage on and after the shot covering the spot. *Then I had to wait!* As you probably know, they keep you around for 15 minutes, in case you have a horrible reaction immediately. They had a big digital clock in front of the waiting room so you knew when you could leave. The entertainment was a looping film on CPR that I'm not sure anyone was watching. The only thing I remember was 'don't bother with mouth-to-mouth.' The woman at the exit asked if I was okay and checked to see if I had an appointment for my second shot. I was done. The whole thing including walking to and from my car may have lasted 25 minutes, and except for the wait for observation, there wasn't really anything I'd call a slow down, let alone a significant wait.
As I said, I didn't feel the shot at all. A few hours later the only sign I'd had a shot was the tiniest spot of blood on the bandage when I took it off. About bedtime I did notice my arm started to hurt and the vaccination point was very tender. My arm still hurt about an hour ago, but it's fading now. I think I could taste the shot a little in my mouth yesterday evening.
On Sunday I was talking with my niece on the phone. One of her daughters is a teacher who got her first shot a while back at a location much closer than the place I went. It was one of those lines of cars like you see on TV and she had to wait about an hour. My niece was trying to prepare me for the same kind of experience. I'd never gone to the place I was scheduled for, the town convention center. So I looked it up on Google maps, and got the street view to figure the best way in and out of that area. Yep, I could see a surface parking lot that looked like it could fit a long serpentine of cars. I had scheduled for late in the morning so it wouldn't be cold getting a shot outside and so the traffic wouldn't be horrible. Indeed the traffic was fine all the way downtown. When I approached the convention center, something looked quite different from the street view I'd seen. I came around the corner where I should have been able to see the building. Instead there was a parking structure that obviously had been built since the street view shot had been taken. I pulled into the drive and was directed to park in the structure. Yippee! I was going to do my waiting inside!
I found a parking spot on the first level. Very nice. If I'd looked around after I parked I could have seen a way to the convention center building that would have saved a few steps, but it wasn't exactly a long walk the way I went. There was a short line outside the building. But as soon as I was about to get in it, someone farther down waved me to himself. He asked one question then sent me to the end of the building a few steps away. The guy there asked when my appointment was and checked me off a list, and sent me to a table where a guy handed me a blank vaccination record card and some sheets of info on the vaccine and a disposable mask to put over the one I was wearing. As I walked up to the first station inside the building, the line there disappeared. The fellow here had me use hand sanitizer and sent me to one of many fellows behind plastic shields who checked my ID, filled out my vaccination card for the day and made my appointment for my second shot, all fairly quickly. Next I was sent to the line where the fellow was sending people to tables to get shots. Again the line disappeared as I approached and I probably had to wait ten seconds before I was sent on to get my shot.
I didn't feel the shot at all. All I felt was the medic putting the bandage on and after the shot covering the spot. *Then I had to wait!* As you probably know, they keep you around for 15 minutes, in case you have a horrible reaction immediately. They had a big digital clock in front of the waiting room so you knew when you could leave. The entertainment was a looping film on CPR that I'm not sure anyone was watching. The only thing I remember was 'don't bother with mouth-to-mouth.' The woman at the exit asked if I was okay and checked to see if I had an appointment for my second shot. I was done. The whole thing including walking to and from my car may have lasted 25 minutes, and except for the wait for observation, there wasn't really anything I'd call a slow down, let alone a significant wait.
As I said, I didn't feel the shot at all. A few hours later the only sign I'd had a shot was the tiniest spot of blood on the bandage when I took it off. About bedtime I did notice my arm started to hurt and the vaccination point was very tender. My arm still hurt about an hour ago, but it's fading now. I think I could taste the shot a little in my mouth yesterday evening.
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