Today I successfully scheduled an appointment to get a covid-19 vaccine. Its interesting how good I feel about it – more than I expected, frankly. Like everyone else, I have been careful throughout the pandemic, though we did see our kids, got tested, quarantined, wore masks, etc. I have not been lobbying to get the vaccine. There are so many people who i felt deserved to get it before me. Health care workers, elderly, teachers, and many many others. I am 61 years old, but healthy and fit and rarely get sick. I’m not a dummy so know that I could get the virus and can’t predict how I will react to it, but I never thought about working myself into a frenzy to get the shot, or cutting in line somehow to get it early.
Last week, the Governor of Ct announced that those 55 and older would now be eligible. Seems like we are (one of?) the first state to go that low in terms of age eligibility. Some friend stayed up until midnight on 3/1 just to log on and get a test appointment; some spent hours and hours on hold on the phone waiting to connect with someone who could help. It was clear that the authorities were overwhelmed as none of the relevant websites (VAMS, CVS, Walgreen, MyChart) were responsive in any way. I know because my wife nagged me all day on 3/1 to try them all. I just didn’t see the need to panic over it. So what it if it took days, or weeks or even another month to get a vaccine. It wouldn’t change our lifestyle would it?
I get up early each morning (it’s a blessing and a curse). I got up just after 6 and logged into the cvs website and lo and behold it was responsive and offered sites for vaccine appointments. I took the 5 minutes to fill out their form and book both the first and second vaccine at a CVS about 10 minutes from my house. So this weekend I get my first shot.
Curiously, I feel really good about it. Almost like a weight will be lifted. I don’t kid myself that the world will get back to normal, but I can feel okay about flying to visit my daughter. I will still have to wear a damn mask while playing tennis, but my risk assessment has changed. It almost makes me feel like we will all turn a corner, once we all get this feeling, one at a time.
*By the time my wife woke up and made it downstairs, CVS was all booked.
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