I went back for my second Covid jab yesterday. The experience was totally different from the first shot, when I went to the GP's clinic, waited by myself in the waiting room, then went into a little exam room and talked to a nurse who gave me the shot and hand-recorded it on my vaccination card.
This time, I arrived for my appointment to find a huge queue of people in front of me -- at least 30 of them, lined up down the block from the doctor's office. There were volunteers in neon green safety vests giving us directions, asking us perfunctory questions about whether we'd had reactions to our first shot, if we had any clotting disorders or were taking blood thinners, that kind of thing. I mentioned that I had an appointment, but they said I still had to join the line.
Eventually it snaked into the lobby of the GP's practice, where there were five vaccination stations set up and people were getting jabbed on an almost industrial scale. I was in and out of the chair in no time. In fact I'd barely got my sleeve rolled up when the needle went in! The guy who administered it stuck a sticker on my card to record it -- no time for writing anything by hand.
I guess this is a result of England's attempt to accelerate vaccine delivery. There were a lot of people in line much younger than me, so I don't know by what mechanism the authorities are deciding who's ready for a second shot -- or maybe some were getting their first one?
I took a picture while in line but it doesn't really show the extent of the crowd. I was about halfway down the block by this time, so there were an equal number of people behind me and still more up ahead where the line rounds a corner to go through a parking area and around to the back of the doctor's office, which is where we entered.
At any rate, I'm glad to have it done.
Afterwards I went back to work and laminated my vaccine card, so now I can show it if need be, although there's a government app that's supposed to make our vaccination information officially available when we go to dinner or cross a border or anything like that.
Today I'm feeling no ill effects. The guy who gave me the shot told me to call 999 (Britain's equivalent of 911) if I got any sharp headaches. "But it won't happen," he said.
Insha'allah, as the Muslims say.
This was yesterday's dramatic sky on the walk home. We heard more thunder but I don't think we had quite as much rain as the day before, at least not right over our house.
(Top photo: Cat graffiti along the Regent's Canal, last weekend.)
That sky is truly dramatic. Congrats on the second shot! Hope you continue to feel no ill effects. The queue on the pavement (as opposed to the line on the sidewalk) doesn't look all that relaxing, but it sounds like they were very efficient. So glad it's done (and so many others were doing it, too). My friend's sister in Arizona refuses to get the vaccine. She believes she'd be microchipped AND poisoned. (And, yes, she's a Trump supporter).
ReplyDeleteYeah, the line moved quickly! I just don't know how to respond to people like your friend's sister. There's no reasoning with them.
DeleteI've seen that sister as little as I possibly could and hope to never see her again. There's no responding. She's our friend's only family, which makes it difficult for her to walk away.
DeleteThat is dramatic! We have been getting skies like that too. The contrast makes all the other colours seem so intense
ReplyDeleteIt's especially nice when the sun is out but the clouds are dark. A dramatic contrast!
DeleteGood to see the young people getting jabbed too - the sooner this is over the better (obs!). It is so different here - that crowd is more people than I see in a week!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's what I said to one of the volunteers -- I asked if they'd invited the whole practice that day, but added, "Well, it's good everyone's getting the shot, at least!"
DeleteYou mention "perfunctory questions". I love those. I mean in general. Before the doctor prescribes you something they ask "Are you allergic to xyz?" How the eff do I know? Ask me next week. Don't bother to come to my funeral.
ReplyDeleteThe clot issue does occupy some minds. Not least mine. Risk assessment fascinates me. Once upon a time I was told that the risk of bla bla bla was very small. Is that supposed to reassure me?
Very small. Great. Employ logic. Unleash your latent paranoia. So there is a risk. But it's small. For sake of argument, only one out of a thousand will come out worse than when they went in [for treatment]. Why on earth, Steve, why - and please do let this sink in for a second - do we always assume that it's NOT us, the ONE? One of the UK's most distinguished eye consultants and I bonded over this question. For years. We had amazing discussions on subjects like statistics, probability; we veered into the realms of philosophy. And all because I was weighing risk or, to be more precise, whether I was willing to take it. The funny part of our encounters when he remembered he had other patients waiting, patiently, for his attention. That we didn't make babies in the process is a miracle.
And yes, to satisfy the suspense of above drama, in the end I took the risk (mainly because my delaying the evil day left me no choice). And what do you know: I am one of the lucky ones. Rewarded with 20/20 vision. Hasn't healed me of not relying on Lady Luck, weighing my chances.
U
I think if we let ourselves be paralyzed by a tiny, tiny likelihood that things will go wrong, we'll never go anywhere or do anything. After all, there's a tiny, tiny likelihood we'll be flattened by a car in the parking lot at the grocery store, or that we'll be hit by a meteor. We can't live in fear!
DeleteYes, Steve, "we can't live in fear" and I don't. That's the point. Unfortunately, the majority of people, or so it appears, do live in fear.
DeleteU
Hurrah! Perhaps the people in the queue were the same age as you but have lived less stressful lives. That's what being a school librarian does to folk.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's probably true. I have aged beyond my years, trying to get back overdue books!
DeleteGreat To See That Appointments Are Honored World Wide - Travel On Brother Man - Keep Capturing Those Ominous Weather Fronts
ReplyDeleteCheers
Yeah, it IS good to see so many people getting their vaccines.
DeleteOur second prick is Friday and the place where we get it has about twenty Jabbing Stations so hopefully, even with an appointment, we won't have to wait long.
ReplyDeleteExcellent! Yeah, it sounds like mass vaccinating is happening everywhere. I don't know why my first-round appointment was so leisurely.
DeleteI've heard you should not laminate the card? I have a picture of mine in my phone. Put the original in my home safe.
ReplyDeleteYikes! I hadn't heard that. Oh well, too late now!
DeleteWhen I got my jabs there were a mixture of first & second shot folks, so that probably happened with yours as well. I felt pretty tired the next day, but that might have been because I never get enough sleep. Ha! No other ill effects. I hope you are similarly unaffected!
ReplyDeleteSo far, so good. I was fine yesterday.
DeleteNow you too are bullet proof. Hurray!
ReplyDeleteHa! Exactly!
DeleteCongratulations on being fully vaccinated. It really is such a relief. Yay!!
ReplyDeleteI agree! I'm glad to have it done.
DeleteAnother dramatic sky! Glad you got that second shot taken care of.
ReplyDeleteIt's a pretty impressive sky, isn't it?!
Deleteglad you got your 2nd jab. and what is up with those trees in that last picture?
ReplyDeleteThe council "pollards" the trees, or prunes them severely, to keep the roots from invading underground utilities and uprooting buildings. They then get shaggy all along their trunks. The poor things are just trying to survive!
DeleteI think we'll always remember getting our shots and how effective or not effective they were.
ReplyDeleteHopefully effective!
DeleteDefinitely a rain sky, as this native Washingtonian knows. I'm always happy to see crowds of people getting the vaccine. (makes me feel safer)
ReplyDeleteI agree, it's great for all of us to see lots of people lined up for the shot.
DeleteGlad you had a sunny day to wait in line for your jab! We were told not to laminate our cards as there are extra lines to record further boosters...
ReplyDeletebut your cards may be different...
Good shot of the dark sky!
Yeah, our card only has two lines. (At least the one I have.) I can't see how laminating it would hurt, but maybe the cops will descend on me if I try to use it somewhere. LOL
DeleteWhen my mother had her first shot there were hundreds of other over-80-years-old folks there at the same time. It was amazing how smoothly everything ran though. The wait in line was minimal and there were chairs for those who needed them. My first shot was at a supermarket pharmacy with room for about a dozen patients in all, those waiting to get the shot and those waiting after the shot. It went very smoothly also. It surprised me a bit to read that your first shot was so isolated; I pictured all vaccinations being given in huge numbers. But however people get them, I'm just glad they're getting them.
ReplyDeleteI agree! It's good for all of us to see people responding in such numbers!
DeleteMoody sky and sunlit buildings simultaneously. Great! The sky does look thunderous. Glad you have been vaccinated all the way- next they are talking boosters in the fall.
ReplyDeleteOh, ugh -- I hope we can go longer than that without getting a booster!
DeleteCongrats on your second jab. That's another great sky shot.
ReplyDeleteThanks, on both counts!
DeleteCongrats on being fully vaxxed. That second shot with the brooding sky reminds me of a scene from a Harry Potter movie.
ReplyDeleteIt does look very ominous, doesn't it?
DeleteIt feels good, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely.
DeleteCongrats! It feels good to be immunized.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
I agree!
DeleteTwo jabs in two weeks! You are doing well.
ReplyDeleteIn two weeks? No, my first jab was back in March.
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