Note
Progress on the vaccines. Gail got her first shot (Moderna) Friday, I got my second (Pfizer) yesterday. Pretty well organized at both places. Getting the appointments was a nightmare, especially hers.
I went to Eastfield Mall in Springfield, one of the states mega-sites, the operation taking place in a defunct Macy's store. Parking was close. On my first visit three weeks ago there was a line to check in, maybe 10-15 minutes, but all inside. Then a bit of a wait for a nurse, then the usual 15 minutes afterwards.
A couple of days later I saw in the paper reports of people waiting there outside up to two hours on a cold and snowy day. Apparently lots of folks had come early, worried about being late or maybe that they would run out. Not a good scene, pretty much everyone age 75+.
So they shifted the layout, so you had a long walk through the mall to get to the Macy's (but still a short walk after to get back to the car). New horror stories, people needing walkers having a terrible time getting there.
So by the time I got there yesterday there was plan C, anyone needing a shorter walk could just go in the exit. And there was no general check-in to slow things down, just maybe 25 tables, two workers per table, one to handle the computer, one to administer the shot. And almost no line. They are learning.
I had two friendly young women taking care of me. Seems I had the same birthday as the one dealing with the computer, so that got things off to a good start. Chatted up the other one as she was doing her job, compared notes on how to deal with headaches -- she had said it was good to drink a lot of water, make sure I stay hydrated over the next 24 hours, I said that's my first line of defense when I feel a headache coming on, a large glass or preferably two of water down the hatch and it seems a while later the headache decided to go bother someone else. Best drug on the market.
So I probably overstayed my allotted time by a few minutes. But I was having a good time, and they were having a good time, lots of laughs, and there was still no line. I figure, if you're there all day doing the same thing over and over, a little break in the routine is not a bad thing.