I actually hadn't expected it to go as planned, but it did. I drove to the location (which was clearly marked) and presented my ID. A very nice young man in military fatigues (masked, of course) greeted me and confirmed my information and told me to get in line. He put a placard on my windshield. Another military person went through some details and said once the vaccine had been administered I would receive a card with my second appointment, "here, a month from today."
Now, you have to remember, I live in New England. It was sunny. slightly breezy and a mere 37 degrees. If you live in New England this was a gorgeous February day. But you're sitting in your car with the windows open, and you're going to present your (bare) arm. This wasn't in some big garage. This was out in the open. I wore a short sleeved shirt under under my winter coat. I was glad it was a nice day.
While I waited, I looked around. There were three "aisles" and it was clear the crew knew exactly what they were doing. It ran like clockwork.
When the First Responder came to give me my shot, I pulled up my sleeve, "No, I can take care of that," he said, and proceeded to give me shot I barely felt. Then he handed me a card showing which vaccine I received, its lot number and the date and time of my second vaccine. I waited the prescribed amount of time, and then drove home.
Later, at "work" several of my coworkers expressed jealousy and said they couldn't wait to get the shots themselves. This is a massive undertaking, At the current pace, the New York Times estimates it won't be until February 11 of 2022 that 90% of Americans will have had both shots, and mid-August before half the population would be at least partially vaccinated. (Assuming supplies of the vaccine are sufficient to meet the demand. This could change if more vaccines are authorized (let's hope so) and that children are eventually able to be vaccinated.)
It's all very humbling. The crew I watched worked ceaselessly. There are seven vaccine locations in my small state, which has a very specific order for who gets vaccinated when. The scale of all of this begins to hit home. Yesterday flags in the US were at half-staff for the 500,000 who have died of Covid 19. We aren't out of the woods yet. I'll be working from home for several more months. Yesterday I found out that the two big movie theater chains in my state will close permanently. We all want everything to go back to "normal," but I think it's going to be a very different "normal."
Clearly my head is all over the place about this. I know I'm not the only one.
