You want it. You're willing. But it just ain't there. So you pick up the dice, rattle them in your hand, and then cast them toward the winds of Fate. That’s comforting, right? Hoping you don’t get sick? You wear your mask, wash your hands, and still, the best you can do is pray that no infected person sneezes, breathes, coughs, sings, or talks to you.
I and Ali scheduled our appointments online through CVS. We had to wait until midnight when slots opened up to get a slot, but that wasn't so bad. When the authorization came through for 12 and over, I was able to simply walk my kids into either a pharmacy or a grocery store pharmacy. Super easy. Good luck to you!
I got mine earlier this spring at a mass vaccination site run by Oregon Health Sciences University at Portland International Airport. It's amazing, really; America can f**k up the most basic things...but when it comes to the really BIG things, we can pull off just about anything we put our minds to. It never ceases to amaze me. Now if we could just find a way to ship Mitch McConnell off to Robben Island on a one-way ticket....
Stacey - I've sent you a Messenger message with my success story from earlier this month...in the Lazio region. There are a couple of photos with the message, too. Please check it out, as I don't know if the opportunity is available in Umbria, but who knows. Maybe something similar is happening in your region. Mobile vaccinating may be the key for many of us w/o the Tessera. Also, I believe the country is truly wanting to vax as many as possible, and as time goes by the easier it might be (well, if that can actually be said of certain things Italian!) once all age groups of locals are done.
Omg, I really know the feeling. I shed many tears in January when virtually everyone I knew was heading towards their second shot. I couldn't get vaxed for love or money. Every site was booked. I kept getting the same advice on where to go, but I never got further than the splash screen telling me they weren't taking bookings because they were out of vaccine or just fully booked. I don't know when I've been so blue, so anxious. And on top of that, I just felt so STUPID because everyone else had clearly been able to negotiate this. This took me back to a pretty awful childhood, where I was bullied and teachers told me I was stupid in front of the class. OK, let me back up a little on the vaccine.
I got some "I know a guy who knows a guy" advice from a friend around the corner, about a new pharmacy that was just opening up. She lives in a great development (founded by the ILGWU, very progressive), and it looked like this pharmacy was where they were all going to get their shots. So I went on the site, signed up and awaited notification. Unlike everyone else (who was smarter than I was), I didn't try to register on multiple sites because I didn't think it was fair to clog up the system and try to nudge ahead of my fellow citizens. Mistake.
A month later, I got an email from my friend telling me she'd been contacted. Since I hadn't, I walked over to inquire. No, they said, I was not no the list - after all these weeks. But why? And of course by then the list was closed. And all the OTHER lists were closed, and I was shit out of luck. But it got worse. That day happened to be my birthday. When I got home, I found a Happy Birthday marketing card from this pharmacy. So they'd taken all my personal info (that's how they knew it was my birthday) and used it for marketing but neglected to put me on the list. Well that's just swell. I marched over there and gave them hell, but a lot of good it did me. I howled with tears of anger, frustration and despair when I got home.
Twitter saved me. Someone there who heard my agony, found an opening at the Javits Center and sent me a link I would never have found. This was on the eve of a massive snow storm (remember those?) and there were 700 slots open. By the time I uploaded all my insurance info (they don't charge you), there were 200 slots left. I didn't even know which vaccine I was signing up for; I wanted anything.
I went to bed and slept fitfully, vowing that if I had to slide on my ass down to the Javits Center in the middle of that damn snow storm, that's what I was gonna do. But it never came to that. Shortly before I left the house, I got a text giving me a new vax date. Made sense. Why defrost all that vaccine when people couldn't make it there? (I later learned it was Pfizer). But I was in the system. That's all it took. I will never cease being grateful to that young woman who *hooked me up,* and I tell her so every time we meet (occasionally by chance).
Since then, I've made it my goal to get all the forgotten people I know vaxed: an older couple, a 90 year old friend; I accompanied a blind friend of mine to Javits so he could be sure to navigate the system there (without being shoved around or stuck into a wheelchair, which is the easiest way for systems to deal with people with disabilities). I missed one person, but someone else stepped in.
That's my story. It was hard, it was awful. I'm so sorry you have to experience an additional moment of this terror and uncertainty. Every single one of us as PTSD. I wish a vaccine soon for the both of you. Mel
Mel, I had NO FREAKING IDEA you went through this! WOW. From a narrative standpoint, that's a great story, well told. But damn, girl, did you ever go through it! I thought it was as easy as waltzing into a pharmacy, rolling up your sleeve, and offering a vein. Apparently, that's not entirely true.
That young woman is a hero. Talk about earning your angel wings. Please thank her on my behalf, too!
I will. Yeah, we were all encouraged but sadly the infra just wasn't there yet. Now, Javits has closed because the demand has tailed off (at one point there was a 8hr wait in line). Local pharmacies all have it, you see signs on the street. Meanwhile, a friend on the block, a therapist, had 11 sessions in one day. During that time she was told of 17 break thru infections. The science community is not verifying this, it's all anecdotal. But it's enough to keep me cautious. Indoor dining is out again. I'm back to double masking indoors. Groan.
I and Ali scheduled our appointments online through CVS. We had to wait until midnight when slots opened up to get a slot, but that wasn't so bad. When the authorization came through for 12 and over, I was able to simply walk my kids into either a pharmacy or a grocery store pharmacy. Super easy. Good luck to you!
It surprises me just how relieved I am on a personal level after I hear someone's successful vaccination story. It gives me GREAT hope.
I got mine earlier this spring at a mass vaccination site run by Oregon Health Sciences University at Portland International Airport. It's amazing, really; America can f**k up the most basic things...but when it comes to the really BIG things, we can pull off just about anything we put our minds to. It never ceases to amaze me. Now if we could just find a way to ship Mitch McConnell off to Robben Island on a one-way ticket....
BAHAHAHAHA! Oh, if wishes were horses, how many would fly.
Hey, a boy can dream…. 🤣
Stacey - I've sent you a Messenger message with my success story from earlier this month...in the Lazio region. There are a couple of photos with the message, too. Please check it out, as I don't know if the opportunity is available in Umbria, but who knows. Maybe something similar is happening in your region. Mobile vaccinating may be the key for many of us w/o the Tessera. Also, I believe the country is truly wanting to vax as many as possible, and as time goes by the easier it might be (well, if that can actually be said of certain things Italian!) once all age groups of locals are done.
I'm still working on it! I have to believe that if I persist, I will succeed.
Omg, I really know the feeling. I shed many tears in January when virtually everyone I knew was heading towards their second shot. I couldn't get vaxed for love or money. Every site was booked. I kept getting the same advice on where to go, but I never got further than the splash screen telling me they weren't taking bookings because they were out of vaccine or just fully booked. I don't know when I've been so blue, so anxious. And on top of that, I just felt so STUPID because everyone else had clearly been able to negotiate this. This took me back to a pretty awful childhood, where I was bullied and teachers told me I was stupid in front of the class. OK, let me back up a little on the vaccine.
I got some "I know a guy who knows a guy" advice from a friend around the corner, about a new pharmacy that was just opening up. She lives in a great development (founded by the ILGWU, very progressive), and it looked like this pharmacy was where they were all going to get their shots. So I went on the site, signed up and awaited notification. Unlike everyone else (who was smarter than I was), I didn't try to register on multiple sites because I didn't think it was fair to clog up the system and try to nudge ahead of my fellow citizens. Mistake.
A month later, I got an email from my friend telling me she'd been contacted. Since I hadn't, I walked over to inquire. No, they said, I was not no the list - after all these weeks. But why? And of course by then the list was closed. And all the OTHER lists were closed, and I was shit out of luck. But it got worse. That day happened to be my birthday. When I got home, I found a Happy Birthday marketing card from this pharmacy. So they'd taken all my personal info (that's how they knew it was my birthday) and used it for marketing but neglected to put me on the list. Well that's just swell. I marched over there and gave them hell, but a lot of good it did me. I howled with tears of anger, frustration and despair when I got home.
Twitter saved me. Someone there who heard my agony, found an opening at the Javits Center and sent me a link I would never have found. This was on the eve of a massive snow storm (remember those?) and there were 700 slots open. By the time I uploaded all my insurance info (they don't charge you), there were 200 slots left. I didn't even know which vaccine I was signing up for; I wanted anything.
I went to bed and slept fitfully, vowing that if I had to slide on my ass down to the Javits Center in the middle of that damn snow storm, that's what I was gonna do. But it never came to that. Shortly before I left the house, I got a text giving me a new vax date. Made sense. Why defrost all that vaccine when people couldn't make it there? (I later learned it was Pfizer). But I was in the system. That's all it took. I will never cease being grateful to that young woman who *hooked me up,* and I tell her so every time we meet (occasionally by chance).
Since then, I've made it my goal to get all the forgotten people I know vaxed: an older couple, a 90 year old friend; I accompanied a blind friend of mine to Javits so he could be sure to navigate the system there (without being shoved around or stuck into a wheelchair, which is the easiest way for systems to deal with people with disabilities). I missed one person, but someone else stepped in.
That's my story. It was hard, it was awful. I'm so sorry you have to experience an additional moment of this terror and uncertainty. Every single one of us as PTSD. I wish a vaccine soon for the both of you. Mel
Mel, I had NO FREAKING IDEA you went through this! WOW. From a narrative standpoint, that's a great story, well told. But damn, girl, did you ever go through it! I thought it was as easy as waltzing into a pharmacy, rolling up your sleeve, and offering a vein. Apparently, that's not entirely true.
That young woman is a hero. Talk about earning your angel wings. Please thank her on my behalf, too!
I will. Yeah, we were all encouraged but sadly the infra just wasn't there yet. Now, Javits has closed because the demand has tailed off (at one point there was a 8hr wait in line). Local pharmacies all have it, you see signs on the street. Meanwhile, a friend on the block, a therapist, had 11 sessions in one day. During that time she was told of 17 break thru infections. The science community is not verifying this, it's all anecdotal. But it's enough to keep me cautious. Indoor dining is out again. I'm back to double masking indoors. Groan.
Got mine (J&J's Jannsen) through the VA last March.
You MIGHT need a booster at some point, which is when I'll start nagging you like a wife about getting one.
I plan to check with the VA, to see if they'll bundle booster's w/ flu shots (much as the MMR is.)