Got my first jab today (Moderna). Surprisingly painless. No soreness, no side effects so far (4 hours and counting).
They’ve just rolled out age prioritization and for the first time in a long time, my age is an asset.
I spent a couple of hours online on Saturday (lots of green appointments available links with no appointments at the end of signing up and answering the questions). I was mostly looking at nearby pharmacies and small vaccination centers. I finally looked at the nearest big center, and was able to score a lunchtime appointment at a fire station about 20 minutes away from work.
There was an article in the LA Times about how seniors are disadvantaged by the current LA county process, which is heavily online (with no real central booking app, just a bunch of separate facilities lists run by different organizations depending on the facility type), uses email and text to communicate, QR code to authenticate, and is car-centric (did I mention where I’m located?). For example, I had to select the center I was trying to make an appointment for, go through a registration process (including entering an authentication code sent by text), and answer a set of questions on my current health before I was able to even see if there were appointments available.
But once I got to the available appointments list, it was easy to select the one I wanted, download the app, print out the QR code, and save the email and QR code on my phone. I popped the address into my GPS, got an estimated drive time, and blocked off my work calendar. Easy peasy.
It’s LA County, so I was expecting chaos and angst today. It was drive through (this is LA), and I arrived 10 minutes early for my appointment…
Well, I arrived three blocks away from the vaccination center 10 minutes early.
However, it was surprisingly well organized and aside from the wait (I got my shot an hour and a half after my arrival), everything flowed smoothly, everyone was friendly, and once my car reached the area where the vaccinations were given there were no hiccups. The only complaint I have is that they had streets blocked off around the center and only one specific route for cars to take, so my GPS guide was useless for the last few blocks (and I’m not familiar with the area, so the helpful sign at the blocked off street that the entrance was only at “Arglebargle” street had me scrambling). Maybe I should have used Waze.
The shot itself didn’t hurt at all. My yearly flu shot was more painful. My 2nd appointment will be set up automatically through the app. This approach streamlines the time spent at the vaccination center yet doesn’t leave it up to the patient to make the appointment. I got a vaccination card with the day of the next appointment stamped on the back, exactly 4 weeks after the initial jab, though I assume I can work on changing the appointment through the app or online.