Given all the gloom and doom I’ve documented for the past year I thought I’d switch it up with something good for a change.
Yesterday I got my first dose of the Pfizer covid vaccine.
I didn’t expect to be eligible this quickly – given the slow / patchy rollout in Maryland (state to state and county to county ALL had different schedules) I was certain I wouldn’t even be able to make an appointment late April at the earliest.
But the governor opened up pre-registration for appointments to everyone over 16 on April 1 (a news story I double-checked on Hogan’s website to make sure it wasn’t a cruel April Fool’s joke) and after signing up at the state and county mass vaccination websites I got an invitation to make an appointment on the 5th and got my jab on the 8th.
The vaccine site was in a local rec center and was very well run – we were in and out in about half an hour, with half of that a 15 minute wait period. No real choice over what shot we got, but given I was getting it way earlier than expected I wasn’t picky.
So far it’s not bad – sore arm, no worse than a flu shot. Even if the side effects get worse (and I’m told the second shot will lay me out) it’s the start of the shield that, even if it doesn’t make me bulletproof, means I won’t land in the hospital and I’m doing my part for herd immunity.
I’m trying not to be under any illusions that the world will go back to normal because it somehow feels like it ought to. I’m reminding myself that the vaccine isn’t a “get out of social distancing free” card. I’ll still have to mask and social distance. Travel still isn’t advised. No matter how much the state/country want to open up theaters, museums, concert venues etc. indoor socializing even with precautions is probably right out.
But I’m doing my part for herd immunity. And unlike social distancing, masking, etc. getting vaccinated feels like a positive step towards fixing this instead of just surviving.