20 July 2021, Somewhere in the Metaverse - UplandDood (@Just1Dood)

To get the Jab

When I started writing this two days ago, it's exactly 24 hours since I started queueing up for my first Covid-19 vaccination jab.

Before I go into the actual experience, let me give a little background on how it's handled in our country.

There is a government "endorsed" app that we need to download to track our movement and records a self-policing Covid-19 status update. Each of us is responsible for answering 6 questions that touch on whether we have had contact with a Covid-19 positive individual to if we've traveled overseas in the last 14 days.

The vaccination roll-out was broken down into 3 Phases with the Frontliners getting vaccinated in Phase I, followed by the High-risk groups, and lastly those from 18 years and above.

I wouldn't want to comment on whether the planning was going according to plan or not but I do want to say that there's much communication disconnect between the Federal Government and the different states. Information submitted to the Federal Government through the above-mentioned app. Despite this centralized data gathering, I have experienced no less than two times being asked to submit the same information to the state-level administration. This does not bolster confidence for those awaiting their vaccination appointment notification through this same app.

Fast forward to last week. I got wind that there is another method to submit a name for consideration and through this source, I had obtained my vaccination appointment.

Once I had submitted my name, I was told to frequently update the app and refresh it before checking if I have got an appointment. On the day that I received the appointment, I had set my alarm clock at intervals of 30 minutes and doing the above updating, refreshing, and checking.

At a few minutes after 2 pm, after I'd done the updating, refreshing, and checking, the appointment details were shown. My scheduled vaccination appointment was at 2 pm! And to get to the vaccination center, I have to drive for almost an hour and had to cross the state line. The comforting thought was that I'd been told the center opens until 8 pm and I was advised to be there by 4 pm.

Fortunately, I made it by that time. In fact, by 3.30 pm I'd already parked and was at the start of the whole process.

I must say that I was very impressed at the systematic approach to getting us through the process. All along each step, there were guides to help us along. It was impressively efficient.

The Jab

The very first station was for screening. Our app was scanned to enter the queue and our temperature was taken. The next station was for registration. Here, we need to complete the usual "indemnity forms". We were told not to sign the form yet.

Once we were ushered into the Consultation station, we were then carefully explained each term in the form and told to indicate we are agreeable to be vaccinated with the "XYZ" vaccine. Then only we were asked to sign the forms.

Having done that, all that's left is to wait for our jab. There were many smaller rooms and we were guided along in waves to fill these rooms once it's available for the next person to receive their vaccination.

After the successful delivery of the vaccination, we were then put in an area to wait for our turn to meet a worker with a laptop to advise us of our second dose appointment date. This is also the station where they will update our app to indicate that we've taken the first dose.

All that's left is to head to the observation area to be 'observed' for 15 minutes. This is just to ensure that no one has adverse effects before being released out into the wild.

All in all the whole process took around 30 minutes from the start of queueing to the observation station.

I now know what dairy cows feel like when ushered through a milking facility. Just follow the process. Enjoy it if possible and you'll safely come out the other end.

I'm a happy cow.

Having some fun with the Jabber

I want to share my experience when inside the 'jabbing' room. When I entered, I was greeted by I believe, a young medical intern. I didn't ask nor did I ask to see qualifications. I'm sure if he's been jabbing thousands daily, he's qualified to jab me.

I did ask him if I can take photos, to which he immediately replied with an emphatic, no! I pushed my luck and asked why. He said, "to protect ourselves". I acted dumb and asked what do you mean? He said, "he didn't want the video to go viral!" I laughed. He didn't think that was funny. The whole time since I sat down, he didn't even crack a smile. Must have been a very stressful job.

Then I tried to snap a photo of the vaccine form. This form shows the details of the vaccine, expiration date, etc. He said, "You can't do that". Oh well, I don't know what's so secret about that since the information will be entered into the system and appear on my app anyway.

I've learned to keep my mouth shut and don't snap any photos. He then proceeds to get the syringe and the dose ready. Before jabbing, he shoved the syringe close to me and showed me the dosage volume and voicing the volume out, and then looked at me. I looked at him and said, "okay?" I got my arm ready for the jab. He kept repeating, relax your arm. Relax your arm. I'm thinking, how the heck do I do that? I wasn't flexing my muscles. Jeez. Finally, I thought, okay. Maybe I leave my arm dangling at my side. That seems to appease him somewhat but once he started pushing this needle into my arm, he started saying, "relax, relax". I was like, what the heck? If I was any more relaxed, I'd be lying on the ground. Before I could reply with my smart-ass quip, he was done. Then he showed me the empty syringe. I think that was kinda funny. Where else would have the vaccine gone? Anyway, I asked him, "Is this the standard operating procedure?" He nodded.

I was done. I couldn't wait to get out of that room fast enough. I didn't want to be infected by his moody long horse-face. I said, "Thank you, Doctor" and quickly exited the room to be ushered to the second dose appointment station. (When I thank him, there was no response. Maybe he was shocked I called him Doctor).

See, I'm phlegmatic. I empathize. I do feel sorry for him because he has to sit there all day putting his life at risk to possible exposure to someone positive and slipping through the system. I'm grateful and thankful for these frontliners' service. I salute you. Thank you!

Thank you for reading, stay safe and see you in the next article.

Sources:

Header: Unsplash.com - Diana Polekhina

Image 1: Unsplash.com - Christian Wiediger

Image 2: Unspladh.com - Colton Jones

Image 3 Unsplash.com -  Mufid Majnun

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