Working out after Covid Vaccines

[adawn]

I think the vaccine roll-out has gone fairly well so far in my area of Illinois (all things considered and just my personal experience). I think everyone in my family got vaccinated using different channels but all were by appointment. Most were notified via our county's vaccine portals when we could choose a appt time slot at various county locations. But the portals also coordinated with at least 2 major healthcare systems in our region so I actually got notified that it was my turn by the hospital/healthcare system I use, not the county portal but I was registered with the county and so they probably shared my data with the health system and vice versa.

My 74-year-old mom went first to a county drive-though site*. Later my super healthy 40-year-old sister got vaccinated where she lives in the city (Chicago) because she's technically in the "financial services" industry (so group 1C I think), but she was extremely proactive about trying to get a vaccine anywhere in the city. I finally got called up (emailed) recently for my first dose through the major hospital/healthcare system I use in the suburbs so I've had my first dose. I'm glad because on Monday Illinois is going to expand vaccine eligibility to anyone 16+ and I kind of wanted to get in before that because I don't know how it's going to go in the future.

*The drive-through county site is changing to a walk-through setup on Monday so that they can vaccinate 2,500 people a day vs. 1,500 going forward.

Last, but not least, we finally were able to get my 97-year-old grandma who is homebound and lives with my uncle vaccinated. For some reason it took a long time for the convention center near her in Cook County to get doses. They got a decent batch once and I spent about 1.5 hours clicking on my computer trying to make her an appointment to no avail. Very frustrating.

But last week she finally got email notification to choose an appointment time and site and the convention center was on the list. Luckily she got the J&J vaccine so only had to go once (this past Thursday). We were just about to explore trying to see if there were any outreach options for homebound people in her area (even though she technically lives with my uncle who can drive her and push her wheelchair), but then she (or rather, my mom and I) got the email on her behalf about appointments being available.

I imagine it's especially difficult for those who do not have high speed internet access or are working full-time or don't have a smart phone because I think all of these factors were important factors/tools in getting us appointments as soon as possible.

Despite the hiccups in the process I experienced as far as appointment scheduling at the beginning, I still like the method my state, county, and nearby counties chose as far as vaccinating certain priority groups sooner and having somewhat scheduled appointments. I say "somewhat scheduled" because at all three totally different places we were vaccinated, it's not like you had to wait for your name to be called. You just had to show up around the time of your appointment slot and then you just joined the line and were moved quickly through.

Special thanks to the National Guard who are running the vaccination site my grandma went to and who began helping at the site my mom went to (her first dose there were no National Guard but by the time of her second dose, they were there to assist). Also thanks of course to all the local volunteers, healthcare workers, nurses, etc. I was amazed at how nice and efficient everyone has been at the vaccine sites considering how long the pandemic has been going on and the stress I imagine all healthcare workers (and just everyone in general) have been under during this time.