I was lucky to get the Covid-19 vaccine
It was the middle of last week. Word was out that the United States was getting ready to move into the next phase of the Covid-19 vaccine distribution. Like everyone else, I wondered when and where it would actually occur. I checked with two pharmacies in my neighborhood. They didn't know. I talked to a pharmacist in the suburbs. Same thing...no answers. Even my doctor's office didn't have an answer. I was told to keep practicing safe pandemic behavior. Your time will come if you're patient.
Last Friday afternoon, I was driving with my significant other from the city to the far north suburbs, when my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number, so I let it go to voice mail. The message was from my doctor's office:
"Hello, Mr. Moore. We've had some cancellations so if you can get to our office in the next hour, we can give you the Covid-19 vaccination."
Oh man, why couldn't they have called an hour earlier? I called them back and told them no, it was too late to come back into the city. It took about thirty seconds to realize that the decision was ridiculous. How could you turn down an opportunity to do this? You didn't know when you would get another chance.
I called back and asked if they had enough for both of us to get vaccinated. I was told yes, but hurry. We turned the car around. Back to the city!
Forty-five minutes later we walk into the office. The good news was we made it right before they closed. The bad news is they overestimated the number of doses they had available. It was negotiation time. It turned out they had enough for one of us. So she got the shot and I talked my way into getting the vaccine the next morning.
The only side effect was a sore left arm for a few days. No biggie. I survived! In four weeks, I'll get shot number two and that'll be it...at least until we hear we'll need to do this every year.
I admit it was pure luck to get this done. From what I've heard, luck is the main way people have been able to get vaccinated this soon in the process. I also admit to feeling somewhat guilty about getting the vaccination when so many essential workers have been bypassed. But, if it wasn't me, it would have been the next person on the list, right? RIGHT?! That eases the guilt somewhat.
I've been trying to figure out if there's a moral to this tale. All I can only think of is it's better to be lucky than good, but I don't really believe that. But, last Friday, if only for this one day, it was true.
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