Vaccination adventures
Sometimes things work well. In the constant noise about pandemic procedures and cures, here is one story of a solution that went the way it was supposed to - at least for a start.
In Canada, health care is regarded as a right - and public health is a priority. The first group to be vaccinated were seniors in care homes and their caregivers. That group has largely been accommodated. The next group specified in my province, Ontario, are those 80 and over. I’m computer savvy - and until this week totally mobile - after a minor fall that created a tiny fracture - painful to walk a couple of blocks for an Xray to learn this - but it could be much worse.
The rollout for us 80 plus group hasn’t been the smoothest. My GP has really worked hard to keep us up to date and recently provided two possible avenues to get there. One was a pre-booking tip for two local hospitals. I signed on with the closest one and got straight in with providing basic information including a provincial health card. A friend tipped me off that she and her husband already had an appointment at a nearer one - and that same contact came a day later from the GP’s office. They were already accepting bookings - but every day was filled. An insider tip from the friend let me know that new dates became available on Thursdays at 7:00 pm, and I was primed to go online. Naturally the system was overloaded and wouldn’t let me in, so I waited an hour and tried again. This time there was a message - “You are now in line, your screen will update automatically so stay on”. I did and sure enough within minutes I was at the registration site and went for the furthest available date to save time. There were several choices and I signed on for a convenient one. The next morning I received a confirmation and instructions to proceed.
The pre-booking also offered a place the next day to register. It gave me 96 hours to respond. What it didn’t allow was a chance to refuse the appointment, since I now had one elsewhere. I hope that doesn’t mean I deprived someone else to register. It would have been easy to have a link to say, “I don’t need this appointment.”
The day dawned and a caring daughter-in-law drove me to the hospital. I entered the large main floor unit and was greeted by someone who noticed me sporting a cane and immediately took me to a seat in the closest section. My appointment was for 9:30. I handed over the letter with my information and they orally confirmed that I had consented. They found me in the system by last name immediately. I received the shot - totally painless so the needle must be really fine tipped. - at exactly 9:29. I was asked to wait for 15 minutes and texted the daughter-in-law that she could come back soon. After chatting with the staff attendants and thanking them, I was back in the car at 9:46. A copy of proof of vaccination identical to the one I had been handed at the hospital was sent and in my email when I arrived home
The only bad news was a sixteen week wait for the second shot. We are now following the British pattern of getting as many first doses into arms as possible to lessen the serious infection rate. I commend that strategy. I awakened this morning glad that things worked out well - and grateful that I started using a computer in 1984 and explored the mysteries of internet and the like soon after. When technology tools are understood and implemented well, live becomes easy. Would that that were always the case.