Last week, my father told me that he finally received the call to receive his COVID vaccination. My mom is a nurse and received hers shortly after they were made available in our state. She’s had hers for a few months. At the end of January, Dad had me check to see if there were COVID vaccinations available at various locations in our state. Sure, they were administering them. Good luck trying to acquire one for yourself. They were booked for weeks in advance. The only place I could find that allowed an individual to be called when shots were available was Johns Hopkins. I’d also set him up, via the Hopkins website, for them to contact him when the vaccination was available. That’s who called him.
Dad told me that the shots were going to be administered at one of Hopkin’s downtown locations. Hopkins has numerous locations throughout Maryland. Wow, that’s at least 30 minutes away from where my parents live. Too bad it wasn’t at the location 10 minutes away from where they live. Dad is now 82 years old and not as eager to venture out to places that he’s not familiar with, and so as soon as he told me where the vaccination would be conducted, I offered to take him.
My father used to work at UMB and passed by Hopkins daily. However, it’s been many years since he’s been down there, and some things have changed. My mom isn’t familiar with downtown, so it made perfect sense for me to take him. Dad actually knows more about the city than I do; however, using Waze on my phone takes me right where I need to go, and I’ve been to that Hopkins location a few times. My brother had told me he would have taken dad if I couldn’t, but he lives a state away. Besides, where else do I have to be at 6:30 AM on the weekends? My workday is Monday – Friday.
Yesterday, I virtually checked my father in using Hopkins through MyChart. While doing that, I realized since I was taking him, I had to check myself in as well virtually. Part of the check-in was responding to a series of questions; all of them were COVID-related.
The questions asked were COVID-related.
- Have you experienced this list of symptoms (examples given) within the past ten days
- Have you been exposed to someone with COVID within the last 20 days?
- Did you have COVID with the last 14 days?
There were a few more, but those are the ones I remembered. I’m rarely late for anything since I always give myself plenty of time to reach my destination, and I factor in potential traffic. However, leaving my father’s house at 6:00 in the morning. There was hardly anyone on the road. We arrived about 40 minutes early. The good news is that the Outpatient center is less than 800 feet away from a garage. At that distance, it was a quick walk to the Outpatient Center.
Once we entered the Outpatient Center, I found out where the vaccinations were to be administered, which was on the same level and about 800 feet away, and dad and I sat down and waited. We were the first ones there and were even there before the ones administering the vaccines. Since that was the case when they did finally start forming the lines. Dad was first to be checked in and receive his shot. They had several stations open, so there was not much waiting. I noticed that most people were older; most looked like they were in their seventies or older. After dad received his shot, one of the nurses instructed him to wait in another area for 15 minutes. They wanted to observe him to see if he had an immediate reaction to the vaccination. While waiting, they scheduled his second round of the COVID vaccination. He’ll be receiving that in a little over three weeks. I’ll be taking him back there in a little over three weeks. Same day/time. Dad thanked me for taking him. No need for that. He’s my dad; I love him. Of course, I’ll make sure he’s taken care of.
Dad is happy he finally got the vaccination, and of course, I’m happy that he’s no longer wondering when he’ll get his shot.
Edited to add:
I followed up with my dad, besides being slightly sleepy later this morning. He is fine. I took off tomorrow. However, I was planning to go to work. However, after reading his discharge notes, I think I might stay off or at least leave much earlier than planned in case he has any side effects.
That’s great that he was able to get the shot. I know how much of a relief it can be to have more protection against COVID.
A couple of days after we became eligible, I actually found and made appointments for shots at a Walmart 2 hours away for the following week. All of the closer Walmarts were booked up. Two or three days later, my brother-in-law in a family chat said that there were slots available in one near him so I started checking again. I was able to make appoints for the same day as the original appointment at a Walmart just 30 minutes away.
It was weird. There was no line, no one else waiting for a shot. They had apparently scheduled one vaccination every 20 minutes. We were both able to get our shot at 3 PM. Karen’s appointment was at 3:20 and the next one would have been 3:40. Even after the 15-minute wait and a stroll around the store to get some steps in, we were out of there before the next scheduled shot.
Our oldest daughter works in the county public library and all county employees who wanted shots got them the same day that we got ours. She was so pleased to be able to get hers.
She’ll get her second shot within a couple of days of when we get ours. Then, a couple of weeks later, for the first time in thirteen months, she’ll be able to visit us inside and have a meal in the dining room. Because she works with other people in a building that is open to the public, she has been very careful to keep from potentially exposing us. When the weather was nice enough on weekends, she would come over for porch visits, but it’s been a while since the last one.
Our other daughter now lives in California in the LA area. She, her husband, and their daughter moved there from Wisconsin last summer. We’ll make a trip out there to visit sometime later in the year. We’ve never been to LA and the last time we visited any part of California, except for going through a small section, was a long Memorial Day weekend in 1980.
That’s great that you and your wife were able to get your shots so quickly. It’s also wonderful that you will be visiting family soon.
I’ve been back in the office since June. They staggered our return to work, and 20% of our staff is still working from home. Early on, there were a few people at work that tested positive for COVID. They had to self-quarantine for 14 days. I can’t say I’ve done any social distancing within the home; however, everyone is different and needs to do what makes them comfortable. My mom is a nurse and works at a local hospital. That’s most likely why dad was wanting to start his vaccinations so quickly. I’m slightly surprised that the hospital where she works didn’t extend vaccinations to people who live with employees that are around COVID patients. I’ve flown over California. I do have family that lives in that state. The last time I flew out that way was in 2002. Corporate headquarters was in Las Vegas.