This is Not a Complaint

 

This is not a complaint. There is no COW*  featured in the picture. I'm just trying to make some sense out of the labyrinth that Getting The Vaccine has become.

First, we were told "Don't call your doctor to get the vaccine. Your doctor will call you." The doctor did not call. We then learned that this plan was not in effect.

Then we were told that 1B people in our county could click here and that would register us to be notified when we could get an appointment. So we clicked there and registered, but no notification came and we learned that this plan was no longer in effect.

Next we were told that we would have to find our own place to get the vaccine. A map showed all of the places in the state that ostensibly had vaccines to give. We clicked on several of the places and got email addresses to write to and request notification of when we could get an appointment. We were not optimistic. No emails in response have arrived. 

So we clicked on another place and learned that a major drugstore chain had the vaccine and may have appointments. Their system involved clicking here to be taken to a line to be in to wait for admittance to the appointment site. It was disheartening to read that "2347 people are ahead of you in line" but the line moved right along, there was a charming graphic to reveal progress,  and when we got into the appointment site we had to enter a ZIP code. Entering our home ZIP revealed "there are no appointments within 50 miles." Entering the ZIP for one of the locations on the map was more fruitful: I was able to make one appointment, for myself, at a drugstore one and one-half hours away from home. Success! Then it said, "make another appointment?" Well, of course I wanted to make one for Himself. But "there are no appointments at this location." Entering different ZIPs brought the same response. Then "there are no appointments available; please try again later." 

Later I got to a different drugstore in the chain that had appointments and I clicked on one and then it vanished. Apparently someone else grabbed it more quickly. And that was that. Repeated visits to the link and attempts at various ZIPs have yielded nothing. At this writing, the links to that drugstore chain are not functioning. Scarlett would remind me, I suppose, that tomorrow is another day.

Meanwhile, we hear of friends who received links from their other friends, links to vaccine sites not shown on the state's health department's map, and have scheduled their appointments; some have even received their vaccines. We hear of people who work for companies that have a connection to get the vaccine and these people offer to have outsiders pretend to work for their company "because no questions will be asked; no proof must be shown." 

So we'll keep clicking and waiting in the line where the little person on the green stripe advances to show our progress, if that site opens up again. And we'll hope that eventually we'll be able to snare one more appointment that isn't two hours away.

And that's how it is, Near Philadelphia

*Cranky Old Woman