Light at the End of the Tunnel

 Yesterday morning Bob and I headed out before 9am to go south to Fremont Kaiser where we were scheduled to get our first COVID shots.  We weren’t sure we’d really get them as there’s been news of the Moderna vaccine being pulled from the vaccination centers due to allergic reactions to it.  We got to the Kaiser hospital complex early, found a parking place and immediately saw the big sign that told us where to go to get our shots.  Our friend, Gladys from the call-center, gave Bob very precise directions because, as she said, “sometimes old people have trouble finding the site, no insult intended.”  There was no line.  We went right inside where a nurse checked us in and gave us a form to fill out.  Then we were ushered into to the far end of a big conference room where there were three injection sites.  I got tears in my eyes as I sat down and Jane, my injector, introduced herself.  She had me fill out a questionnaire and told me I was getting the Pfizer vaccine.  I asked Jane if other people got tears when they got their shot and she said, “No.”  I didn’t even feel the shot.  Jane was good.  Then we sat in appropriately distanced chairs to be observed for any reaction we might have to the vaccine.  The room wasn’t crowded and I was surprised to see that we were the only ones with gray hair.  Clearly, the over 75 set weren’t rushing into this vaccination site.  Immediately, a young woman wheeled over a table with a computer and made me an appointment for the 2nd shot in 3 weeks.  I felt  a mild dizziness right away but didn’t tell them.  It was probably lightness due to relief at getting my shot.  As we left, I felt sooooo very grateful and thankful.  Thankful to the scientists who created the vaccine in record time, grateful to Kaiser for being organized to give vaccinations and even grateful for Operation Warp Speed.  Now, I feel almost a little guilty for being among the first to get the shot because I remember how I felt when we couldn’t get an appointment.  I hope everyone gets their shots soon and that this pandemic will be over.  We are all so very tired of it—-numb from the unthinkable number of deaths and sickness and tired of the restrictions.  Bob and I have had it easy.  We are not alone, we have each other.  We have a nice place to hunker down with special places to soothe our spirits.  Bob has his workshop and I have the gardens.  We and our family have been safe.  We have no economic worries.  And now we’ve gotten our shots in the early wave and I now see a bit of light ahead, a light at the end of the tunnel.