One Down One To Go And Looking Forward To Travel, Festivals & Nightlife
By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Travel Blogger
I got vaccinated and I feel great!
But that’s not all – I also feel powerful.
Powerful in that I can – finally – walk through a crowd without burying my face in my mask and holding down my head until I get past everyone.
Powerful in that I can feel comfortable going through an airport without wishing I had a 10-foot pole to keep away from other passengers and to travel again to fun destinations.
Powerful in that I know I’ll soon be back at festivals, concerts and other events.
Now I understand that I must still be careful and still wear a mask. And things won’t be back to the good ‘ol days for a while. It’s hardly the time to throw the mask away and caution to the wind. As of this writing, I have had one of the two shots – Pfizer, in case you’re curious – but finally getting it has really changed my outlook on the future.
I say finally because it’s been quite the adventure to get the vaccine in California. Our state government has been slow to open it up to the general population for some reason. Instead, I watched in dismay as I saw drug addicts, prisoners and even zoo animals getting vaccines while I stood helpless on the sideline.
Furthermore, the county’s website is mess to even look for an appointment and CVS’s site showed every location in the state was not available. (My plan was to get an appointment, show up and then make up something so I would be eligible).
I watched with “how did they do that!?,” fascination as well as jealousy as friends on Facebook around the country would post “I’ve been vaccinated” with the obligatory photo of a needle in their arm.
After all my failed efforts, I thought that President Biden might wind up sending me a plaque stating “Last Person In America Vaccinated!”
Getting My Shot
It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon here in San Diego and I had just finished a bike ride around gorgeous Mission Bay and down The Strand (okay, they call it a boardwalk here) through Pacific Beach and Mission Beach.
Oh a whim, I decided to take a spin through a neighborhood I had just learned of when two local news stations did live reports from a couple of restaurants there. The community is Barrio Logan.
Well about all I saw was a nice, new one-block area of buildings but nothing inspiring so in search of something I might be missing, I pedaled to another block. And just as I was about to turn around, I rolled up to a small parking lot that was giving vaccinations.
The place was about to shut down and only three or four people were holding clipboard filling out forms. So I went up to a table, inquired if they had any extra vaccines and a very cute girl said she would check with the nurses.
Before she did that, tho, she asked me “what’s your qualification?”
Quick to think on my feet, I said “journalist.” I happen to be wearing a PubClub.com t-shirt and was prepared to follow up but she just said “ok!” A couple minutes later she handed me a clipboard and 15 minutes later, it was needle in the arm time for me.
It was so painless I didn’t feel a thing. When I mentioned this the friendly nurse joked that “removing that bandaid will hurt more.”
I was then given a number to call in three weeks to get the second shot.
I have since felt no side affects other than feeling great. As well as powerful.
Leave a Reply