One and Done

Doug was in Florida when the state of Indiana opened up vaccinations for those aged 50 and up.  As soon as I scheduled my appointment I scoured through vaccination sights looking to get something set up for Doug.  It was more challenging to get him scheduled because the second shot had to be either before he left for his next work trip or right afterward.  I tried my best and somehow got him signed up for two different times on Friday March 12th.  One of the immunizations was with Moderna and another one with Pfizer.  We thought that as the date drew closer we would decided whether the first one that needed to be given four weeks apart or the second that was due at the end of three weeks made more sense.

Shortly after I got my vaccination, I noticed that the Goshen Walmart was offering the newly approved Johnson & Johnson shot.  The efficacy rate was lower than the other two, but it had a huge advantage for Doug.  It was a one and done immunization.  I called "211" to cancel his other appointments and to schedule the new one right away.  Thankfully, they had a 10:20 a.m. time open for the 12th, so all we had to do now was wait for the date to arrive.

This morning Doug worked from home so he could go to Walmart's pharmacy before heading into the office.  He arrived early and was surprised at how few people were in line ahead or behind him.  The vaccination process was easy and by 10:15 he was in an assigned chair waiting the fifteen minutes required before leaving.  He had no issues with the shot except that it hurt more than usual.  He called on his way to work to thank me for setting it up for him.  I was so happy that it went well.  He was still surprised at the fact that there was only one other person that received their vaccination during that entire time he was there.  I wasn't as shocked as the news had said that only 37% of Hoosiers in the 50 to 59 age bracket had either been immunized or had signed up for the shot.  Hopefully, more will do so, but for the time being we were just both glad that he was done.  It would take four weeks for immunity to build up with the Johnson & Johnson shot, which would mean that he would not have to worry on his next trip to Ocala.  Later in the evening we heard that Michigan would be lowering its vaccination age group to 16 and up on April 5th.  We knew that meant that soon Indiana would do so as well.  It has been a long year, but one more month and things should return to normal in the Heinisch home.