#15,849
Like millions of others across the country and around the world, I've been waiting for a chance to get my first dose of one of the recently approved COVID vaccines. Demand, however - even from the narrowly defined high risk groups - has far exceeded supply.
That situation is changing, as evidenced by the fact that yesterday I was able to get my 1st dose of the (Moderna) COVID vaccine.
Here in Florida, the general public's access to COVID vaccination has been through an online sign up opportunity held for roughly 1 hour, three mornings (Mon. Weds. Fri.) a week. You log into the website, and wait, and roughly every 60 seconds the screen refreshes and tells you if you can apply.
The available doses for the next 48-72 hour period go quickly, and many (as I) end up trying multiple times. Even if an `appointment' opens up, the applicant must complete a multipage-page questionnaire, and pick a pharmacy and time.Often, as has happened to me, by the time the paperwork is done, the last dose has been allocated and you must come back another day and try again.
While frustrating, this week significant improvements have been made to Florida's sign up process, where you pick the pharmacy and time 1st, and that slot is held for 25 minutes to allow time to complete the paperwork. On Wednesday of this week, I was lucky enough to get an appointment, and yesterday morning I got my first dose.
The process, like the shot, was completely painless.
I was checked in outside the pharmacy by a (masked) employee, how had me show my I.D. and fill out a 1 page form, and then was told when I could go inside. Once inside, the shot was delivered swifty (thank's Bob) by a pharmacist, I was instructed to wait 15 minutes, and then I left.
While I expected some sort of reaction from the shot (which may still occur), so far, if it weren't for the band-aid on my shoulder, I wouldn't be able to tell where it was given. I guess I'm part of the 50% who report no side effects.
The point of this is to let my readers - particularly here in Florida - know that the sign-up process has been streamlined and approved, and if you've tried before, and were discouraged, there are good reasons to try again.
I suspect similar improvements are occurring in other states as well. Rolling out hundreds of millions of vaccines was always going to be a monumental, and difficult task.
We can debate whether the current vaccines will be effective against emerging variants, or how long the protection might last, but the simple fact is these vaccines are our best hope for a return to quasi-normalcy in the near future.
If they do nothing more than reduce the severity of the disease, that's a big win.
Being a belt and suspenders type guy, I still plan to avoid crowds, to wear a mask in public, and to take reasonable precautions to avoid infection. Not only against COVID, but against other respiratory diseases that have been on hold for a year, and could return with a vengeance in the months ahead.
But I do so with far more confidence than I've had since this pandemic began. And after a very dark year, that's real progress.
