Have you been vaccinated yet? I was able to get my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on March 24 after I became eligible in the state of Michigan on March 22.
Yup, I was finally old enough to qualify for a vaccine. Yay for old age!
I don’t know about where you live, but where I live it’s kind of a mess when it comes to signing up for the vaccine. I registered at both local hospitals where I have received care in the past, the Meijer grocery store chain, and then I started hunting and pecking for time slots available at each website for the national pharmacy chains including Rite Aid, CVS and Walmart.
I finally found a spot at CVS, about 50 minutes away from where I live. I jumped on it.
A few days later when I arrived, I could tell I might be in for adventure because there were no parking spots available.
I checked in on my phone 10 minutes before my 1:30pm appointment. Then I checked in at the front door, and then joined the queue. I thought there were 4-5 people ahead of me.
It was at that moment that I could just hear that gentleman who confronts Ralphie and Randy in A Christmas Story saying, “Hey, kid, where do you think you’re going? The line ends here. It starts there.”
Because I was wrong about that line.
There weren’t 4-people ahead of me. There were at least 15 people ahead of me.
Yup, the line was like the line to see Santa in A Christmas Story, although instead of winding through a department store, the CVS line was winding through greeting cards, pain relief, and diapers.
I stood in line for about 45 minutes. When I was next, I had to laugh at the pharmacist administering vaccines. That’s because I watched him carefully and laboriously unwrap and peel open three band aids for the next 3 people. It took him several minutes.
Meanwhile, I was wishing for the nurses who always give me flu shots at work. Those nurses don’t spend 5 minutes opening band aids just so. They wipe your arm, poke ya, rip open a band aid, slap it on ya and send you on your way!
Anyhoo, I finally got my shot. Then I waited 15 minutes on a folding chair in case of an adverse reaction. I stared at the seasonal spring items, which wasn’t unpleasant.
I get to go back April 15 and I’ll be better prepared with a book and camp chair.
Of course, the alternative of NOT getting vaccinated is much worse! So I’m thankful for my time in the hallowed aisles of CVS staring at my fellow Americans’ backs as we race to beat the virus.
May the odds ever be in your favor as you get vaccinated.
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