Today, Wrenn and I trekked down to Yankee Stadium to get our first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer. This is being managed by Somos, a network of healthcare providers all throughout New York City. The vaccination station at Yankee Stadium opened up in January, and is specifically there to service Bronx residents.
The process was very orderly, very efficient, very organized, and very friendly. We have absolutely no complaints about any aspect of it, and tons of compliments. Somos is to be commended for what they’re doing here, trying very hard to make sure that the people of the Bronx get vaccinated. Speaking as a lifelong Bronx resident, I know that we’re historically left behind and underrepresented and ill-served, compared to the rest of NYC, so I appreciate the effort. Kudos also to the U.S. Army personnel, who supplemented the Somos staff
Amusingly, the one thing they did constantly was check our ID to make sure we were Bronx residents. They really are committed to making sure that the Bronx gets safer.
The process itself was straightforward. They verified our appointment, which I made Monday morning, then we had to go through the metal detector (because Yankee Stadium), then we registered, and they put us in the computer, and then we went to get our shot. The shot itself was as fast as humanly possible — the guy giving the shot checked our IDs, applied alcohol to our arms, stuck the needle in (it barely even hurt), put on a band-aid, gave us our CDC card that we will now carry around saying we got our first shot, and then we went to the waiting area. Generally, one waits for fifteen minutes to make sure there are no nasty side effects, but because Wrenn is an allergy-induced asthmatic, she had to wait for half an hour.
There were no side effects — though we were both pretty tired when we got home — and we drove home and ate lunch and took well-deserved naps.
We get our second shot on the 12th of March, and by the 26th of March, we’ll be fully vaccinated against this awful virus.
Please, if you’re eligible in your state, make an appointment. If you’re not eligible, be patient — with new vaccines on the verge of being FDA-approved, the number of slots should increase in March. Keep checking for appointments. The sooner everyone gets vaccinated, the safer we’ll all be.
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I do love the sticker.
Unfortunately, it’s not possible for everyone who’s eligible to make an appointment. My mom is at her wits’ end trying to get an appointment, she spends hours every day stalking a dozen different websites trying to find one. I’m amazed how well your program works – Maryland really needs to emulate something similar. There’s a crowdsourced spreadsheet of information for Maryland residents trying to get appointments, and she had me help her make sense of it, but it’s still going to involve hours of hunting trying to get an appointment. Thank goodness the Bronx has a better system.
I agree with The Mom, though, I love the sticker.
Sadly, as a healthy person with no pre-existing conditions, in my early 50s, working from home, I’m looking at summer before I become eligible for the jab.
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